Birthright
by NotSoJollywood
Summary: Amelia Remington went through 18 years of her life not knowing what she really was. But the death of her parents forces her to accept that fact that she is a witch, bringing her dangerously close with the Dark Lord and maybe, love?
1. Chapter 1

Birthright

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns everything belonging to Harry Potter. She even owns my soul.

**Author's Note:** So this has become my summer project, and I quite like it so far. I only have one other chapter written (not even a chapter really, it's still being worked on), so I may be posting it a little prematurely. But anyway, I hope you guys like it!

**Chapter One**

_If we knew each other's secrets, what comforts we should find._

- John Collins

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><p>Amelia Remington looked overhead as the storm clouds blocked out the very last of the sun. All shadows seemed to disappear, and grey was now everywhere. Grey was everywhere these days. Not simply in the weather, but in the moods every one. Bridges were breaking, there had been random and unprovoked murders, it was constantly cold and dark. It was as if every particle in the universe was turning dark and unpleasant. Amelia had not smiled for days; it was as if every sad and depressing feeling in the entire world was inside of her.<p>

Trying to push all depressing thoughts out of her head, Amelia trudged home through the desolate streets. No one stayed outside anymore for fear of being harmed. Nobody trusted each other anymore. She kept to herself, avoiding eye contact with anyone who dared to venture outside.

As she neared her home, Amelia became more and more aware of her surroundings. More people were out on the street than normal, all huddled into groups of three, whispering to each other. They were all facing the direction of her house, pointing and staring. Amelia looked to her home with horror. The windows were broken with jagged pieces of glass sticking out. A dark ominous cloud hung overhead, in a sinister shape. One of her neighbors spotted her, and gave her a look of enormous pity. The old woman put her arm around her and lead her into the warmth of her own home.

The woman was Creepy Carlotta, or so the younger kids in the neighborhood had taken to calling her. Carlotta, from what Amelia knew, lived alone in her house. Her husband had died a few years before, and since then had become eccentric. Well, more eccentric than she had been when her husband was still alive. Weird things were always known to go on in their home, and sometimes odd people who dressed in strange attire could be seen through their windows. To Amelia, the entire family had been a little insane. But Amelia, in her confusion, accepted the old woman's help and followed her into her home.

"The police will be here in a few minutes to speak with you," Carlotta said, as she sat Amelia down on the couch, "Can I get you anything? How about a cup of tea?"

Amelia did not even acknowledge the woman. Her mind was still trying to focus on what she said. Police? Her mind was buzzing with questions. Why were the police involved? Where were her parents? Every second that she sat there alone, her heart beat faster. Amelia hated being alone and in the dark about the situation around her.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, causing Amelia to jump out of her seat. She heard Carlotta shuffling to the foyer, and the creak as the door opened. Amelia's heart was beating faster than before. She was almost certain that it was audible from across the street. She swallowed and tried to calm herself as the police walked into the room. Immediately, questions seemed to pop out of her mouth, "What's going on? Where are my parents?"

The two officers that entered the room seemed to look at her with pity. "I'm sorry, Miss Remington," One said, as he pulled off his hat, "But your parents seem to have been the latest victims in a string of murders that have been happening all across the country." Amelia did not hear any of the rest of what the two officers had said to her. Her mind stopped processing anything after the world 'murder' and forgot where she was. All she could think about were the faces of her mother and father, and how she would not see either of them ever again. She did not notice when the other officer put her hand off on Amelia's shoulder in what was an attempt at a comfort. But Amelia, in her trance of disbelief, did not feel it. The hand that was supposed to be reaching out for her was her mother's. She was supposed to be receiving comfort from her father, the only one who knew how to cheer her up when she was upset. _You're never going to see them again,_ something inside of Amelia told her.

At the thought of it, Amelia began to break down. As the tears flowed freely from her eyes, the two police officers looked to Carlotta, who came in holding a tray with three cups of tea on it. Through her sobs, Amelia heard one of the officers ask, "We've checked the records, and it appears that Miss Remington has no living relatives. Because she is eighteen, she is legally considered an adult and cannot be placed in the care of the state."

Amelia did not even want to think about that. Living on her own? It was inconceivable to think about getting up without the sound of her mother's voice in her ear every morning. She could not imagine not hearing her father's hearty laugh every night. Amelia was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost did not hear Carlotta say, "It's alright. She can stay with me."

Amelia looked up at the old woman, to whom she had never spoken more than a few words to until that very moment. And she was letting Amelia into her home without so much as thinking about it. All she could do at the moment was muster up the only two words which she could think of at that moment, "Thank you."

"It's not trouble, dear." The old woman smiled, "It has been years since there has been a child in this house. I just hope I can help you through this all."

"If you would like, the scene has been examined thoroughly and you could enter your house to grab a few of your things." The female officer said, giving Amelia a pitying smile.

Amelia nodded as she stood up. She did not want to step into her home, the place of her parents' murder. As she exited Carlotta's home, and looked to her own, it was like she could not even recognize the place. It was darker, and the love and warmth that once seemed to flow through it all disappeared. There was nothing but despair there now.

The house itself was in shambles. It was a mess, so unlike the pristine condition that her mother usually kept it in. Walking into it, Amelia felt as if she was entering a stranger's house. Furniture had been overturned, glass had been shattered, and there was what, to Amelia, looked like burn marks on the wall. The house looked like a war zone. She tried not to look at the condition of her home as she ascended the stairs.

Glass pictures were shattered in the corridor leading up to Amelia's room. It was surreal being in a house where something so terrible had happened. Amelia shuddered at the thought. As she entered her room, she found it in the same condition as the rest of the house. Her bed had been turned over, and her closet has a giant hole in it, as if someone had shot a cannon right through the door. Singe marks covered the walls, just as they had on the floor below. Why had the fight for her parents' life some to her room? Why did the fight appear to be so brutal? It took every ounce of strength in Amelia's body to keep her composure and not to break down crying in front of everyone.

Silently, she gathered her clothes and all necessities. It took her all of five minutes; Amelia was in a hurry to get out of the house. It was becoming almost unbearable for her to be there. As she descended the stairs, a faint glimmer caught Amelia's eye. The last of the sunlight reflected off one of the only unbroken pieces of glass; it was a picture frame. It was the only picture frame left untouched. Without even thinking, Amelia grabbed the picture. It was a picture of the three of them, on vacation in New York City one year. Feeling a swell of emotions rise up, she put the picture away with the rest of her things.

With Carlotta's arm around her, Amelia made her way across the street. The old woman was fussing over her, offering her tea, food or anything else that she could think of. Amelia did not want any of that. She just wanted to be left alone, but Carlotta did not seem to take the hint.

"Are you sure that I can't get you something?"

"No, thank you," Amelia replied for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I really don't think I can stomach anything."

"But tea will make you feel better," Carlotta countered, "Tea makes everything better."

Amelia shook her head. Once the police left, the news finally began to sink in for her. This was it, her parents were really gone. As Carlotta left the guest room for what Amelia hoped would be the final time, she let the tears finally fall. And once they started, they would not stop coming. It had been hours since she returned home from school and heard the news. But it was just hitting her now. She would be on her own for the rest of her life.

The sun has set, and hours passed before she heart Carlotta come up the stairs once more. Amelia heard the door open, and looked to see the old woman holding a tray of food. "I know you said you weren't hungry, dear. But you really should eat something. "

"Thank you," Amelia said, looking at the food. She did not move to eat it; her stomach was still unsettled and she had to wonder if she would ever get her appetite back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear. Ask me anything."

"Why are you doing this for me?" Amelia paused for a moment after seeing the look on Carlotta's face, "Not that I'm ungrateful – if it were not for you, I'd have nowhere to go. But I've lived here all my life and haven't spoken to you more than a handful of times."

The old woman paused for what seemed like forever. In the silence, Amelia could not even imagine what Carlotta would say. After a few moments, she finally spoke, "Because your parents asked me to."

"What?"

"The planned for this," The old woman's eyes met Amelia's for the first time since the conversation started; she knew that because of this statement, Amelia would have even more questions. But before Amelia could open her mouth, Carlotta continued, "They knew that someone wanted them dead."

"I-I don't understand," Amelia struggled through her own words, "My parents were normal. Boringly so. Why would somebody want them dead? They never did anything!" The day's events were confusing enough already for Amelia, and had taken yet another dizzying turn.

Amelia watched as Carlotta pulled out a white envelope from her pocket. "They warned me that something like this would happen. They told me to give this to you if it ever did. I wanted to wait, but I do not think we have much time. The people who did this to them might come back."

"What do you mean?"

Carlotta handed her the envelop; it was crisp and clean, as if it had been keeping itself ready for this very moment. Hesitantly, Amelia took the letter from the woman. She eyed it carefully, determining whether or not she wanted to open it. After a few moments of simply looking at it, Amelia broke the seal on the envelope. She carefully pulled out the neatly folded sheets of loose-leaf paper. Her heart hammered as she unfolded it. As her eyes scanned it, Amelia recognized the handwriting as immediately. It belonged to her father. Taking a deep breath, Amelia began to read:

_My dearest daughter,_

_If you are reading this, then I fear the worst has finally happened. They have found us and your mother and I have been killed. I am sorry; I know this must be terribly hard for you. But do not be too sad: your mother and I have died for a cause that we greatly believe in, and rejoice in the hope that one day this terrible evil will be gone from the world._

_I know you must be confused. I'll try to make everything clear for you, and I hope you will understand our reasons for doing this. Your mother and I are wizards. We belong to a community of witches and wizards in Great Britain that are capable of doing wonderful things. But there are some witches and wizards that use their power to do horrible things. Awful things. _

_When I was younger, during my time at a school, I became friends with the wrong sort. We followed one of those dark wizards who tried to gain control of our world. During the Dark Lord's rise to power, I followed him and did whatever he told me to do, all believing that he would make lives better for our kind. But after years with him, I finally realized that what he was doing was awful. He would not help us, only himself. I was bringing down my family into a dangerous and dark road, and could not live with that any longer. I went to those who resisted and fought against the Dark Lord, letting them know secrets and ways in which to fight him._

_But once the Dark Lord learned of my treachery, he vowed to get his revenge. He sent the rest of his followers to kill me and your mother, who was pregnant with you. He wanted to get his revenge by murdering our entire family. So I did the only thing that I could think to do – I ran. The Order of the Phoenix offered us protection in return for the information that we gave them, but I could no longer be a burden on anyone. We ran away from our world, giving up magic for the rest of our lives. We decided to live in the non-magic, Muggle world, where we would have non-magic jobs and never use magic again. It was hard, but we did it for the protection of our family. _

_The Dark Lord was finally defeated by a baby named Harry Potter. No one knows how such a young child could have stopped one of the most powerful dark wizards of our time, which is why we still hid. Your mother and I never believed that he was truly gone, and we wanted to make sure we were absolutely safe before returning to the wizarding world. _

_We never told you because we were scared that you would want to learn magic, and then they would find us easily. We never wanted to keep such a big part of your life from you, but it was for your own safety. I could never live with myself knowing that you were put in any danger because of me. _

_But, as your mother and I are no longer around, we can no longer protect you. We hope that, in our absence, you will find safety with the Order. _

_Your mother and I love you very much, and will be with you wherever you go._

- _Dad_

Amelia put down the piece of paper; she could not believe anything in that letter. It was all too strange. Witches and Wizards? Dark Magic? Some boy named Harry Potter? Her parents had to be making this up. Or had gone crazy. But her parents had been killed. What could have possibly explained that?

Amelia was lost in her own thoughts, trying to rationalize the insanity that was this letter. Her parents must have gone mad with paranoia. Did schizophrenia run in the family? Amelia never knew her grandparents and did not know much of her family's medical history. She was still thinking about all the possibilities when she noticed Carlotta, looking at her expectantly.

"Did you know about this?" Amelia asked. When Carlotta nodded, she lashed out, "Then why didn't you try to get them some help? Why didn't you convince them to see a psychiatrist or something? We could have gotten them medication to help with these delusions!"

The old woman looked taken aback, "You parents weren't crazy. They were wizards, and that makes you one too."

Amelia was becoming angry; her parents has just died. Why would they want to put her through this? What kind of cruel person would do such a thing? But Amelia wanted to see just how far Carlotta would take this insanity. "Okay, fine then. If they did have this big secret, then why tell you?"

"Because I am a witch."

That was rich. Amelia took a deep breath, trying to keep from losing her temper. The old woman looked at Amelia and continued, "My husband, Gideon Prewett and I moved out here when he retired from the Ministry of Magic."

Amelia took a deep breath, "You're just as insane as my parents."

"Has something strange ever happened to you that you just couldn't explain?"

Amelia paused, her mind flashed to the time when she was a child, when other children in the neighborhood had begun to tease on her incessantly. One day, after Amelia had become particularly angry with them, they had all mysteriously became sick and left her alone for weeks. But that was just a coincidence, wasn't it? Carlotta seemed to notice Amelia's confusion and took advantage of that fact, "That was the magic in you. You just had not learned to control it."

But Amelia still was not convinced by the woman's explanation, "If you're really a witch, then prove it. Do some magic."

The old woman looked resigned, as if she knew that the conversation would come to this. Sighing, she pulled out a long wooden stick. Amelia guessed that it was supposed to be her wand. Still disbelieving the entire story, she crossed her arms skeptically. Carlotta raised the stick and cleared her throat. But before she could do or say anything, there was a large popping sound followed by footsteps from downstairs. Carlotta looked alarmed, and kept her stick raised. As if she could fight any intruders off with it. Look to Amelia, she whispered, "Stay here and keep hidden."

Looking around, Amelia decided to get into the closet. She assumed Carlotta would go downstairs to confront any intruders, but there was no need. She heard the footsteps ascending the stairs. Through the shades in the closet, Amelia could see everything that was going on.

A woman appeared in the room, with her hair matching the crazed look in her eyes. As she stepped into the room, Amelia could see that the woman was alone. "Where's the girl?"

Carlotta pretended to be confused, "What girl?"

"Don't play games with me," The woman snarled, "The girl that you are hiding somewhere in this house."

"I can assure you that I am not hiding anyone," Carlotta said, feigning innocence. "And even if I was, why did he send you alone without any backup? Surely, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named values your life more than this, Bellatrix."

"I am always honored to do anything that the Dark Lord asks of me." Bellatrix yelled, her shrill voice piercing the air, "And I can easily take the little brat who doesn't know anything about magic. It's easy as pie." On the word pie, Amelia watched in horrified amazement as the bed flipped over, on its own.

"Tell that to your precious Dark Lord," Carlotta scoffed, "The last I heard, he was defeated by a mere child."

The set Bellatrix off; Amelia watched as the mad woman screamed some sort of gibberish. Some sort of bright light shot out of her wand. Amelia sat helpless in the closet, watching Carlotta fall to the floor as she writhed in pain. "Never insult the Dark Lord again."

Amelia put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. How was any of this possible? The old woman was now on the floor, her body limp. Amelia could see that she was still breathing; she was still alive but had gone through a tremendous amount of pain. She didn't know if the old woman would survive that much pain.

With the only obstacle out of the way, Bellatrix was free to search the room for her target. Without a word, things began flying all over the room. Drawers were opened, furniture was overturned, and glass was shattered in the process. It was only a matter of time before the closet door swung itself open. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at the sign of Amelia, a smirk forming on her crazed face, "Ah. There you are."

Bellatrix strutted over to the closet, grabbing Amelia by the hair. She cackled as she dragged Amelia across the floor, stopping when she was next to Carlotta. Amelia's eyes met the old woman's; she looked almost apologetic. Unthinking, Amelia grabbed the hand of the old woman in a feeble attempt to comfort her.

"How touching," Bellatrix said, looking on with delight. Without another word, Bellatrix screamed, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

A green light shot out of her wand and flew straight to Carlotta. Before she could do anything to protect herself, the green light struck her with a tremendous amount of force. Amelia watched, still holding the woman's hand, as the light left her eyes. Carlotta was dead.

Bellatrix cackled once again, twirling around in a fit of celebration. Amelia was disgusted. What kind of woman rejoiced in the death of another? Amelia thought about escaping, and tried to plan a way to get to the stairs and find help. But she was too immobilized by fear to move. Her hand was still gripping the old woman; she couldn't leave Carlotta alone in the house.

Bellatrix ceased her celebration and stood over Amelia. She kneeled down, grabbing the girl once again. Amelia did the only thing that she could think to do: beg. "Please, don't kill me. I haven't done anything to you. Please." Tears were flowing freely from her face, and a giant sob was escaping her throat.

Bellatrix simply laughed, "Kill you? Oh no, the Dark Lord has a different plan for you."

Without another word, Bellatrix forcefully brought Amelia to her feet, holding tightly onto the girl's arm. Before Amelia could process what was happening, Bellatrix had cast a spell, and the two of them where somewhere entirely different.


	2. Chapter 2

Birthright

**Chapter Two**

**Author's Note: **Well, here is chapter two! I know it's quite a bit shorter than the last one, but that was mainly because it is mostly filler. Nevertheless, I hope that you like it. Feel free to let me know what you think (flames and all), because I really want to grow as a writer. Thanks!

_The value of identity, of course, is that so often with it comes purpose. _

Richard Grant

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><p>Amelia felt sick; whatever Bellatrix had done to make them appear at another location did not agree with Amelia's stomach or head. It had to be one of the most unpleasant things she had ever felt in her entire life. But she did not have time to dwell on that fact. When she and Bellatrix had appeared at their destination, Amelia gasped. They had landed in front of a large estate. Even in the darkness she could see its enormity. But she could not admire the outer beauty of the estate for long, for Bellatrix was dragging her through the wrought iron gates and into the magnificent building.<p>

The inside of the building was just as beautiful as the outside was. But there was a sinister feeling in the air that Amelia could not quite shake. It did not help that Bellatrix was once again dragging her. The crazy woman led Amelia down a dark corridor, and stopped as soon as she reached a stone stairwell. With the flick of her wand, a metal door opened. Bellatrix hissed, "Get down there, you little brat!"

Without hesitation and full of fear, Amelia did as she was told. Her feet were shaking, and she had to keep from stumbling as she made her way down the stairs and into what looked like a cell. As soon as she was inside of it, Amelia heard the clanking of the door shutting by itself. As soon as she was alone, Amelia fell to the floor. Tears were falling from her eyes, and she let out an uncontrollable sob.

"Don't be sad," Amelia heard a female voice from the shadows. At the sound of it, Amelia jumped up. She was startled to hear anyone else in this God forsaken place. Especially someone who sounded so optimistic. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. Sleeping at night is a little difficult with the screams, but after a while you just don't hear them anymore."

"I'm sorry," Amelia said, thoroughly confused, "But what?"

"It's not so bad after a while,"

But Amelia could not believe that. Everything about the mansion that she had been forced into was so dark and eerie, and she could not imagine anything getting better. In fact, Amelia was sure that it could not get any worse. Amelia scoffed at the girl's optimism. After everything that she had been through that day, she did not need anyone telling her that things would get better. Or that it wasn't so bad. Because it _was _that bad. Her parents were gone forever, and she had no one to guide her through this ordeal. The mere thought of it was enough to bring tears to her eyes once again. She was back to sobbing, huddled in a fetal position on the floor.

Amelia's face was buried in her knees, but she could feel the girl kneel beside her. "It's okay. At least you're not alone down here. You have me and Mr. Ollivander."

But that was of little comfort to Amelia. If anything, she wanted to be alone in her misery. To work out everything that had been in the back of her mind since she found out what her parents had been keeping from her. She needed to figure out where she would go from here – how she would stay alive. This girl, and her friend, had managed to do so in the most depressing conditions. Maybe should could learn a thing or two from them. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Me? Only two weeks." The girl looked downward, a hint of sadness in her voice, "They took me as I was going home for the winter holidays. Mr. Ollivander has been here longer. He was here long before me."

Amelia craned her neck to see the elusive Ollivander. But he was nowhere to be seen. She turned to face the girl, "Where is he?"

"They took him upstairs. They do that quite often." She said, somewhat sad, "I don't know why. He always is so worn out after they question him, I never ask."

As if on cue, a scream could be heard through the walls. The two of them looked upward, at the source of the ear piercing shriek. Amelia shuddered; was this what awaited her over the next few days? Or would she be here for weeks like the two other prisoners? As the screams died down, Amelia looked to the girl again, "So what is your name? What did you do to land yourself in this place?"

"Luna," She said, a smile returning to her face. Amelia did not understand how she could be so optimistic. Especially in a place as dark and depressing as this one, "And I'm here because of my father. He's editor of the Quibbler, and he openly supports Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter," Amelia repeated. That name was mentioned in the letter that her parents had written her. She tried to recall what he had done that was so important, but in light of the day's events, her mind was coming up blank.

"Surely you must know who Harry Potter is," Luna said, skeptically. When Amelia shook her head, Luna continued, "How do you not know who Harry Potter is? He is the Chosen One, and he is going to defeat You-Know-Who."

Amelia sighed, "Up until a few hours ago, I didn't know who this Dark Lord guy was either. I didn't know that any of this existed." Amelia felt the tears coming on again, but she didn't want to let her guard down. Not when she could be taken and tortured at any moment. She took a deep breath, and tried to keep her composure. She did not want Bellatrix to barge in on her crying in Luna's arms. She wanted to be strong.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, her big eyes growing wider. "Everyone in the wizard world knows who You-Know-Who is."

"I'm not part of this world," Amelia said, fighting back the lump in her throat. She took a deep breath, and began to explain the situation to Luna, "Well, I guess I am. But I never knew I was. I just thought I was a normal person. A meagle, or whatever they are called."

"Muggle," Luna corrected, "But I don't think I'm following you. How could you not know that you are a witch?"

Amelia paused for a moment, trying to formulate a response. She did not know how her parents had managed to keep it from her for so long, and she did not know if she could find the right words to describe everything that she had found out that day. But it did not matter. In the few seconds of silence, the two of them heard footsteps coming from the stone stairwell. The cell door swung open, and Amelia watched as an old man fell to the floor.

"Mr. Ollivander!" Luna cried out, running to help the old man. As the young blond girl helped the man to his feet, the door swung closed behind them. Amelia walked over to help them, letting the old man put his weight on her shoulder. Luna and Amelia walked to a corner of the dark room, and rested the old man against the wall. He slid to the floor, still gasping for breath.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked the old man, once he gained back his composure.

"Just a little shaken up," He replied, his voice weak. Amelia could only imagine what those horrible people were doing up there. Was that the fate that awaited her as well? Amelia shuddered at the thought of that. It was then, that Ollivander noticed Amelia. "Who are you, child?"

"Amelia Remington," She replied. To her surprise, there was a look of recognition on the man's face.

"Remington," The man repeated, "Are you related to Wyatt Remington?"

Amelia looked downward, trying not to meet the old man's eyes. "He is – _was _my father."

Ollivander seemed to know that she meant, all he could say was, "I'm sorry. I remember when he came in for his wand. He had such trouble trying to find the right one for him. But, in the end, the right one chose him. Thirteen inches of hawthorn, with a Veela hair core." None of that made any sense to Amelia, but she managed to nod at the words of the old man.

It was painful to talk about, but the old man continued, "I did not know that Wyatt had a child. How come you never came to my shop for a wand? Every witch needs one before they start schooling."

Amelia took a deep breath, "My parents never took me to get a wand. In fact, I never knew that my parents were magical until this afternoon."

"What?" The old man asked, showing the same shock that Luna exhibited just moments before. "How is that possible?"

"Apparently, they gave up magic." Amelia took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure, "They betrayed You-Know-Who, and gave up everything in order to protect themselves – and me." The two of them looked at Amelia with pitying eyes, "I never knew any of this until today. That bitch with the crazy hair came to my house, attacked them, and then came back for me. I guess You-Know-Who wanted his revenge."

"I'm sorry," Luna said, wrapping her arms around Amelia and pulling her into a hug. Aside from Carlotta, it was the first comfort that she had received all day. And Amelia was grateful for it. Despite only knowing her for a few hours, Amelia felt as if she could trust this odd, blond girl. It was nice to have a friend in this chaotic mess.

"When all of this is over, I will help you find a wand that is perfect for you," Ollivander said, the look of pity never leaving his face. Amelia graciously thanked him, although she was unsure if she wanted to learn the art of casting spells. It seemed dangerous to her, what with all of the evil that she had seen that day. All she wanted to do was return to normal. She wanted her old life back, with her normal parents, and her normal day to day activity. She did not like worrying that she would be tortured or killed at any moment.

Luna looked at the old man, who seemed physically worn down from the horrible torture that he must have undergone. "Mr. Ollivander, sir, I think you should get some rest now." The old man nodded, and within moments he was asleep against the cold concrete. Amelia didn't know how anyone could sleep in such a vile and wretched place such as this. But maybe sleep was the only means of escape the poor man had. One's worst nightmares had to be better than this.

"Do you think that we'll ever get out of here?" Amelia asked Luna after a few minutes of silence. Amelia was glad to have someone with her. As hard as this situation was to deal with, it would be even harder alone. Luna was a comfort, and Amelia just hoped they both would make it through this ordeal alive.

"Of course I do," Luna said, an optimistic smile forming on her face. "Harry Potter will defeat You-Know-Who like he did when he was a baby. And then everything will go back to normal."

Despite Luna's optimism about their situation, Amelia had her doubts. She could not believe that one boy could go up against someone like this Dark Lord. Although she had never seen him in person, Amelia saw what others like him could do. And she did not think anyone could beat that; Carlotta certainly could not. "Why don't you call You-Know-Who by his real name?" Amelia had been hearing about this man all day, and yet knew nothing about him.

"Because he is terrifying," Luna replied as she shuddered, "No one calls him by his name. Well, Dumbledore did before he died. But he was the only one that You-Know-Who ever feared."

Everything that Luna was telling her seemed downright mad. To Amelia, none of it made any sense. But neither did any of the other events that happened to her that day. Everything was strange and foreign to her now. What she was once certain of was no longer true. But Amelia let Luna continue, and tell her about everything magical. She heard about Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Army, Gringotts, house elves and nargles. Amelia felt like a child listening to a bedtime story, but the tales did not bring on comfort and sleep. They only made her more wary of the new world she had been unwillingly thrust in to.

In a few short hours, Luna had shut her eyes and fell asleep, leaving Amelia alone with her thoughts. Had it really been earlier that day that she had hugged her mother goodbye and given her father a kiss on the cheek before heading off to school? Had she, just hours ago, been worrying what her roommate at university would be lie? Those times seemed eons ago. All of her past worries seemed so trivial now. None of mattered anymore. All she needed to focus on at the present was one thing: survival. Amelia vowed to do whatever it took to make it through this. Whatever it took to make it out of this ordeal alive.

Amelia did not find rest that night. With the day's events replaying over in her head every time she closed her eyes, she found it best to stay awake. She could not find one single moment of peace. And as the night wore on, she was unsure if it would ever come.

Time passed. Amelia was unsure of exactly how much time had passed – but pass it did. Had she been there a day? A week? Amelia had no clue – everything seemed to mesh together to form one long day for her. She had not slept a minute since she arrived at this place, which Luna had informed her was Malfoy Manor. She was too frightened to sleep; the ear piercing screams coming from above the stairs haunted her constantly.

She had not yet given up trying to find a way to escape, but she needed to know more of the area. She did not remember the layout outside of the dungeon that she was confined to, and found no way to escape the concrete cellar she was in. And so Amelia waited patiently for the moment she was to be taken upstairs and tortured. She had to admit she was surprised – the letter Amelia's father sent her stated that these people intended to kill her. But she was still alive. But why? Amelia wanted answers, but what she wanted even more was a means of escape. But she did not just want to leave on her own; she wanted to take Ollivander and Luna. Her two companions in this twisted situation had become her friends.

As Luna was cheerily telling Amelia about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, a large creak signified that the large iron door to the cellar was opening. A round, rat-like man with small watery eyes entered. He only said a single word, "Remington."

Amelia paused, all blood flow in her body ceasing. She was sure her face had turned as white as a sheet of paper. But she knew better than to hesitate. Silently, she stood up from her little corner of the cell and followed the short man up the stairs. Her heart was hammering as they entered what looked like a large dining room. In the center of the room, there was a table occupied by Bellatrix and people that Amelia did not recognize. At the head of the table, however, was a large man who held all of the characteristics of a snake. She could only assume that this was the dreaded Dark Lord that she heard so much about. Looking at him, she could see why everyone was scared of him. His very presence just radiated pure evil. Her eyes immediately flickered to the ground, too terrified to meet him in the eye. "Amelia Remington."

She shook with fear as he said her name. Even his voice was like a snake, a faint hiss could be heard after he spoke. Quickly, Amelia tried to determine what her best chance at surviving was. Should she say something? Or should she remain silent? Knowing one wrong word could mean the end of her life, she determined that silence was her best option.

"Daughter of traitor Wyatt Remington," He continued from his seat, not bothering to get up from the chair, "Brought here to pay for the transgressions of her father."

Amelia gulped, trying to stifle back the tears that were coming. She tried to brace herself for her death. She was shaking, and doing all that she could to remain standing in this terrifying man's presence. Maybe, if she showed some respect, he would kill her quickly. But Amelia did not think that this man was one to show mercy. Nevertheless, she had to try. "Please," She begged, "Please don't hurt me."

There was a laugh around the room, as if all these horrible people were sharing some kind of inside joke. But Amelia was in anything but a laughing mood. "No, Miss Remington," The Dark Lord said, rising from his seat finally. Amelia began to quiver in fear even more now. Every instinct she had was telling her to get out, but her feet remained planted on the ground, "Your blood is pure – a rarity that should not be wasted. However, we have other plans for you."

Her head shot up, unsure of what he meant.

His voice was cordial to her, in almost a mocking way. He could sense the fear in her, and he liked it. "Your situation is useful to us. Having grown up in the Muggle world, with no knowledge of magic, makes you innocent. Unsuspecting. And, you see, we have lost our most valuable spy."

Amelia was still unsure as to where he was going with this, but she did not question it. If it meant her surviving to see another day, Amelia would do whatever this man asked.

"You will infiltrate the Order of the Phoenix," He continued, his snake like characteristics making themselves even more noticeable as he moved across the floor towards her. Amelia trembled as he got close to her, scared he would do something to her. His wand was out, almost ready to attack her if necessary. "You will report to Bellatrix any information you have regarding attacks on us, or the whereabouts of Harry Potter. Do you understand?"

Amelia nodded, already thinking of ways in which she could use this plan to escape and go into hiding. How did he not expect her to use that freedom to escape? But he seemed to be one step ahead of her, "And in case you think of running away, we will kill her. _Crucio_."

Amelia turned as she heard screaming from behind her. She saw Luna, writhing on the floor in pain. Amelia had to do something to stop all of this. "No!" Amelia turned back to the Dark Lord, "Please! I'll do whatever you tell me!"

The Dark Lord stopped his torture on poor defenseless Luna, "That is what I like to hear."

As the Dark Lord turned around, no longer acknowledging her, Amelia let the tears silently fall. She was the Dark Lord's pawn now, and she would have to play his game.


	3. Chapter 3

Birthright

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Author's Note: **Hey all, I'm sorry – I know it has been a while. Let's just say I got really bored in class today and started writing this again. It may seem kind of choppy (at least half of it was written about a year ago, and the rest was written tonight). But please, let me know what you guys think, because I am really in love with this story.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

_All war is deception. _

Sun Tzu

* * *

><p>Almost immediately after Amelia was allowed to leave the Dark Lord's terrifying presence, she broke down into hysterics. This was no longer just about her survival, but about Luna's as well. Amelia had to do everything that she could to protect her blond friend. The one whose optimism kept her sane throughout the darkest of times in that horrible cell. She could not let anything happen to that poor sweet girl who had so much faith that everything would turn out alright.<p>

As Amelia attempted to wipe the tears from her eyes, Bellatrix came prancing in, "Quit blubbering, you little brat. You got off easy." Bellatrix circled Amelia, her shoes clicking around the marble floor. Amelia tried to quiet her breathing immediately. The Dark Lord was terrifying, there was no doubt. But his plans and strategies were rational. Everything was calculated. Bellatrix was erratic, and one wrong move could set her off. Amelia did not want to die at the hands of this mad woman, who obviously took pleasure in the torture of others. "We're going to Diagon Alley, where you had better weasel your way into the Order. The Dark Lord has instructed we meet there every two weeks to discuss your progress." Bellatrix cackled, as if she had just told a hysterical joke. Amelia hated to be leaving Luna, but she would be glad to get away from the insane woman for a while.

Amelia nodded, letting Bellatrix know that she understood her instructions. Bellatrix continued, "If you fail, I will kill you myself. And then come back for little Miss Sunshine here." Amelia thought of Luna, of her scream as the Dark Lord tortured her. She could not bear to know that her failure would cause that."

Bellatrix grabbed onto Amelia's shoulder, squeezing it tightly with her death grip as the world shifted and changed around them. Amelia remembered the feeling of being sucked into a small pipe and being pushed out the other end. It was even less pleasant the second time around. When Amelia could breathe again, she saw a large street with many shops. But something about it was off. It was eerily deserted. No one was outside. Bellatrix pulled Amelia into a deserted corner, where she threw the girl to the ground, "And remember what happens if you fail – _crucio!_"

Amelia felt like her insides were being ripped apart. She tried to breathe though the pain, but it was just too much to bear. She writhed in pain, waiting for the agony she felt to end. It slowly died off – and when the pain finally ceased, Bellatrix was nowhere to be found. Amelia was left alone on the street. She had nowhere to go, and was out on her own in a world that she knew nothing about. She had no idea where to start looking for this Order of the Phoenix that she was instructed to find. Amelia stood up, doing the only thing that she could. She put one foot in front of the other and began walking.

The streets were empty. Boards covered most of the windows and there were posters everywhere with the warning of Undesirable Number One. Amelia took a closer look at the poster. Apparently, Undesirable Number One was Harry Potter. She thought that he was supposed to be one of the good guys – why would be one of the world's most wanted if he was so special? She looked at the boy in the picture. He was scrawny; he did not look like the Chosen One at all. He couldn't beat the Dark Lord. He was just a kid.

Amelia continued down the street. As she progressed down the narrow road, she searched for someone, anyone who looked remotely approachable. But there was no one outside, approachable or not. But as she walked down the street, Amelia saw one shop that appeared to be open. She looked at the name – Weasley Wizard Wheezes – and debated going in. Amelia decided to enter, thinking it may be a good place to start looking for this Order.

Taking a deep breath, she walked through the door to the shop. The door chimed with laughter rather than a bell as she entered. At the sound of the laughter, red hair burst out from behind one of the aisles. A man, only a few years older than her, greeted her with a smile. "Hello, welcome to Weasley Wizard Wheezes – home to all your prank needs. What can I help you with today? Extendable Ears? A Pygmy Puff? How about some love potions, eh?"

A joke shop. Well, it certainly took Amelia off guard. She had been expecting something entirely different. Maybe a store that sold eye of newt or wolfs bane, or other magical sounding ingredients. There people were wizards; what did they need pranks for when they had magic?

"George, you've terrified her," another voice from behind the counter laughed, "Look what you and your ugly face have done this time." Amelia turned to see an identical face to the boy standing in front of her. "I'm Fred, the good looking one."

"Hi," Amelia said a little shyly. With everything she had encountered over the past couple of days, she did not know if she could trust these two. They seemed friendly enough, but they could be just as insane as Bellatrix for all she knew. "I'm Amelia Remington."

"Remington," George repeated her surname, "Sounds familiar. What house were you in at Hogwarts?"

"I-I didn't go to Hogwarts," Amelia replied, growing nervous. She had no plans as to what she should tell them. She didn't know if she should even tell them anything. All she wanted to do was find this Order of the Phoenix so she could do her job and keep Luna unharmed. She had to keep to herself, and lay low.

But the twins were curious now, "Oh. Beauxbatons then? I knew it, I could sense you had something foreign about you. Very classy. Very –"

"Sophisticated," The other one finished for his twin.

"No," Amelia corrected. Being around these two was dizzying. She had not known them for five minutes, and she was already flustered. "I didn't go their either."

"Well, then where'd you learn magic?" The two of them questioned, in perfect unison.

"I don't know any magic," Amelia blurted out before thinking it through. She instantly regretted it. _Crap,_ she thought to herself. Now she would have to find a way to explain that statement. The two men were looking at her with wide eyes now, indicating their surprise to find her in a magical joke shop.

"Are you a Muggle?" One of them asked, "How'd you get here?"

Amelia paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say. What was it that the Dark Lord had said about her circumstances? She was unsuspecting and innocent. Amelia could tell these two the truth. She would just have to leave out some of the major details. Taking a deep breath, she went for it, "I'm a witch, I guess."

The one who introduced himself as Fred laughed, "It's not really something that you guess on."

Amelia sighed as she tried to formulate the right words in her head, "I mean, I am a witch. But I didn't know about it until a few days ago. I didn't know about it until after my parents were murdered." She choked on the word 'murdered' – it was still hard to acknowledge after everything happened.

"Murdered?" The other, George, repeated. "I thought there hadn't been any deaths in the past few days."

Amelia felt the tears coming on, and instead of subduing them, she let them flow. She would seem more innocent at least. Maybe these two would take pity on her and decide to help her. Both boys looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Men never knew how to handle a woman's tears. They looked at her with pitying eyes; Amelia decided to play it up even more. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "And the same people who killed them after me. I don't know any magic, and I don't know where to go."

"Come on then," One of the twins said, putting his arm around her shoulder, "We know just where to take you." Amelia followed them back behind all of the aisles, and through a back door. It was a messy store room, and at the very back was a large fireplace. It emitted small flames, barely enough to keep the entire shop warm,

"Watch George," The other twin instructed as George climbed into the fireplace. Amelia watched with wide eyes, wondering why it did not burn him. He grabbed what look like powder from a small bucket hanging from the mantle. He held it firmly in the palm of his hand.

"The Burrow," He shouted and threw the powder to the ground. Green flames engulfed him entirely, and Amelia screamed. What was he thinking going into the fire? She covered her mouth in horror. As the flames died down, Amelia anticipated the worst. But as the fire subsided, there was nothing there. Amelia's eyes went wide in shock and surprise.

"What? How? _What the hell just happened_?" Amelia hissed her heart racing fast. Fred was laughing at her reaction to whatever it was that she witnessed.

"Floo Powder," He said, as if that explained everything, "It's your turn now. Make sure you speak clearly – you don't want to end up in Antarctica." Amelia looked at the red head as if he were crazy. But he simply smiled at her, "Remember – you want to go to the Burrow."

"Why don't you go first?" While he was in the fire, Amelia planned to get the hell out of here.

"What?" He laughed, "And leave you alone to steal our store? Nope, I've got to close up shop first. I guess it's lucky that you're our only customer today. War is bad for business, even if people do need a laugh."

Amelia nodded. For some reason, she actually trusted this strange man. Taking a handful of the powder from the small bucket, she stepped into the fighter. It took her a moment to realize it, but her skin did not burn. It merely tickled her ankles. Taking a deep breath, she threw the powder to the flame and shouted, "The Burrow!"

* * *

><p>Amelia felt herself falling – falling into a different fireplace from the one that she started out in. The floo powder, as Fred called it, was a strange sensation. It felt like a tickle all the way through to her bones. She had to admit that she quite enjoyed it. But the sensation ended quickly, and she fell with a thud. Black dust clouded her vision, and she had to cough a few times to get it out from her lungs. Once the disorientation subsided, Amelia looked at her surroundings.<p>

She was in a house. It was messy and disorganized, and was not in the least bit normal. Dishes were washing themselves, which Amelia had to smile at. No matter how horrible her life had become, the mere simplicity of washing dishes was a comfort to her. Amelia looked around in wonder. There was a clock on the wall, with various faces on it. Each of the hands of this strange clock was pointing to a section that said "mortal peril". Amelia froze instantly; was she the one that was putting these people in mortal peril? Would they be on to her?

Amelia saw George watching her look around his home. Amelia silently hoped that her face was not betraying her. If she failed at this, Luna was going to get seriously hurt. Amelia could not let herself live with that. She did not want to work for the Dark Lord, but she would do what she had to in order to keep herself and Luna safe. Amelia took a deep breath, and tried to relax. If she was tense and frightened, she would be more likely to betray her true intentions.

"George!" Amelia turned at the sound of a woman's voice. A middle aged woman, with the same shade of red hair, came barreling towards the boy, her arms open in a hug. She did not even notice Amelia, who was standing only a few feet from her. "George, I've missed you. You and your brother hardly come home anymore."

"Mum, Dad would kill you if he knew you weren't asking those security questions," George said, affectionately scolding his mother. "You aren't doing a very good job at setting an example, you know."

"I don't need any security questions, George. With all of these security charms that we've put on the house, no Death Eater has a chance of getting in. Our family is perfectly safe." His mother said, matter-of-factly. As if to prove a point, George looked directly at Amelia and cleared his throat. His mother turned, and gasped when she saw the strange girl standing in their living room. For a moment, Amelia stopped breathing. The woman had said that there were charms on the house. Would they know why she was here? Her heart began to beat rapidly, and she could feel her legs start to shake. "What are you doing here? How did you get in? No one should be able to find this place unless-"

"I took her here, Mum, through the Floo Network," George explained, before Amelia had to think of another lie. "She's in on the secret now."

The woman turned towards her son, her face becoming the same shade of red as her hair. "What? George, how could you do such a stupid thing? She could be a Death Eater, she could be working for You-Know-Who."

"Relax, woman," George said, a smile creeping up on his face. Amelia did not know how that boy managed a smile; she could barely manage standing at that moment. "Amelia did not even know she was a witch up until a few days ago."

The woman once again turned to face Amelia; her face was still skeptical. Amelia swallowed, preparing herself for the worst. Would the woman curse her? Would she do that same torture curse that Bellatrix had used on her? "How did you not know that you were a witch?"

Amelia looked up to meet the woman's eyes. At least she could answer this question honestly. For what felt like the hundredth time, Amelia explained her story, "My father used to work for the-uh-You-Know-Who. My father betrayed him, giving up information to those fighting against him. But they had to go into hiding, because otherwise You-Know-Who would have come after them. They gave up magic and went to live in the real, I mean Muggle, world. They never told me because they did not want to put my life in jeopardy. But a few days ago, his followers, some crazy lady, came and killed them." Amelia began to sob, not knowing if she could go on.

Through her blurry eyes, Amelia could see the woman and her son looking at her with pitying eyes. Taking a deep breath, she tries to continue, "My neighbor, Carlotta Prewitt, was also a witch. She took me in and explained everything to me. She died trying to protect me, and I have been running ever since."

"Carlotta," The red headed woman sighed heavily, "She was married to my brother, Gideon. What is your name?"

Amelia looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She could barely whisper, "Amelia Remington."

"Remington," The woman repeated, "As in Wyatt Remington?"

Amelia nodded, "He was my father."

"I remember him. We were at Hogwarts together, but I barely knew him. He was in Slytherin. But I remember him coming to the Order during the War, and telling us everything. Dumbledore tried to offer him protection, but he was too frightened. He told us his wife was pregnant, and he just wanted to give everything up in order to protect his family." The woman took a deep breath, "He did a very brave thing. Defecting from the Death Eaters is hard to do."

"I know, ma'am." Amelia said, as she tried to calm herself down, "He paid the price for it."

George's mother looked at her sadly, "I know, dear. Please, call me Molly."

"Thank you, Molly." Amelia said, "I have just been wandering about these last couple days, hoping that they would not catch me. That was how I found the joke shop."

Molly looked at Amelia sadly, "I wish that there was something that we could do to help you. I'm sorry, but there is nothing that we can do."

"What do you mean, Mum?" George said, looking at his mother has if she had just gone crazy. Amelia could not say that she was surprised; if Amelia was in Molly's place, she would not have let a complete stranger into her home. Especially if that stranger was Amelia Remington. Amelia nodded meekly, and headed for the door.

From behind her, Amelia could hear Molly, "George, these are dangerous times. As much as I would love to help the poor girl, your father would never allow it. This girl is a target, which would make our family a target as well."

"We are already targets. Your son is off to Merlin knows where with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the world. We are all known members of the Order," Her son countered. Amelia paused, listening to the conversation intently. These people were members of the Order and knew Harry Potter. Maybe they would say something useful, that way she could keep herself and Luna safe for just a little while longer.

"George is right, Mum," Another voice came. Amelia turned around in time to see the other twin, Fred, emerging from the fireplace. "She has nowhere to go. Her family was all killed by You-Know-Who, and now he's after her. She doesn't even have a wand to defend herself with. How could you let her go off alone like that?"

Molly seemed at a loss for words, "I would love to help her, but your father would never understand."

"Forget Dad," Fred replied, not backing down from what his mother was saying, "She needs our help."

Molly sighed, looking resigned. Amelia tried to hide her smile, she had somewhere to stay! What was even more than that was that these people were a part of the Order of the Phoenix, which meant that she was even doing what she was supposed to. Luna would be safe. "Fine, boys. But you two are the ones who will have to explain things to your father."


	4. Chapter 4

Birthright

**Disclaimer**: All characters, and the Harry Potter universe, belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Author's Note: **Hey all! Sorry that it has been so long. It's been really hectic with class, and finals and all that jazz. So here is Chapter Four of Birthright! I really hope that you guys like it. I'm even all gushy about Fred in this. But yeah, please let me know what you all think! All feedback is appreciated.

**Chapter Four**

"_And thus I clothe my naked villany__  
><em>_With odd old ends stolen out of holy writ;__  
><em>_And seem a saint, when most I play the devil."_

William Shakespeare

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><p>It had been two days since Amelia had come to the Weasley house. She was extremely grateful to be there, but she had to admit that she did not feel entirely welcome. On her first night at the Burrow, when Mr. Weasley had returned home from work, she felt once again awkward and out of place. She knew that she could not leave; she had to infiltrate the Order. Yet, she could not help but feel awkward, knowing that she was unwanted. That night, Molly and her husband had argued over her staying. Amelia tried her hardest to ignore it, but it was very difficult. Molly Weasley's voice was loud and it carried. No matter how hard she tried to tune their conversation out, she could not. From what Amelia could father from her eavesdropping, Arthur was worried about the safety of his family: they could not afford to have a stranger at their home during such a dangerous time. His argument was the same as Molly's had been earlier that day. This time, however, Molly had been defending her.<p>

Two days later, Arthur Weasley was still not thrilled to have her in his home. He was polite to her, and treated her well. But Amelia could tell that he was still wary about being there. Molly, on the other hand, opened up to the young woman. Amelia guessed that it was because Molly missed her own daughter, who was away at school. Molly often said it was nice to have another woman in the house. She had even give Amelia some of Ginny's clothes that did not go up to school with her.

Molly had even taken to teaching Amelia magic. It was all very basic; she was in the midst of learning defense spells. Amelia had to wonder why she was not learning how to attack her opponents. She could not shake the feeling that they still distrusted her. They did not want her to know how to attack, for fear she would attack them. But Amelia said nothing, just grateful to know even the most basic of defenses. Even though, she had to admit, she was horrible. A majority of the time that she practiced was spent waving the wand in the air with little or no result. Molly insisted that it was the fact that she did not have her own wand; she was using one of the twins' wands until she could get her own.

"You'll do much better," Molly often told her when Amelia was getting frustrated with her lack of results, "Once we can get you your own wand." When she asked Molly why any wand would work, the woman explained that each wand was different. Amelia thought that it would have caused a lot less trouble if all wands were made exactly the same. But Amelia kept her thoughts to herself.

On the rare occasions that Amelia in fact did magic with her wand, she was amazed at the result. It was usually the _wrong _result, but it was no matter. Amelia was just excited to see that she could do magic. The fact that she was a witch still had no hit her; she still could not believe that she was capable of doing some of the things that she had seen Molly or the twins do.

After an long Sunday afternoon of practicing magic, Amelia sat back in the Weasley living room. She was exhausted, even though she had barely done any successful spells. Doing magic was exhausting, Amelia realized. If she had not known what the crazy witches like Bellatrix could do, Amelia would have just given up and bought a gun instead.

"Why don't you read some more about disarming," Molly suggested as Amelia relaxed on the couch. "Fred and George are hardly ever home anymore, so I want to make a nice dinner while they are here."

Amelia shot up from the couch, "I can help. Mum always used to say that I was a master in the kitchen." The thought of her mother made Amelia said, but the thought of doing something normal and non-magical was too good of an opportunity for her to pass up.

Molly gave the girl a half-hearted smile, "I couldn't ask you to do that. Plus, the vegetables will really just chop themselves."

Amelia knew that Molly was trying to keep her at a distance; the Weasleys still did not fully trust her. But she did not see the harm in helping to cook. Amelia was so desperate to have some normal chore to distract her that she was willing to do or say anything for the chance to help out. "But I feel so useless after you have been so kind to me. You've opened up your home to me, and are teaching me magic. You've even given me some of your daughter's clothes. You've done so much for me these past couple of days; it is the least that I can do to help."

"Oh no, it really is not necessary."

"You know, if you really want to be useful, 'Melia," A voice from behind her said, "George and I need some help at the shop. We're not ones for cleaning and organizing and all the women's work." Amelia had not even noticed that Fred and George were standing behind him.

"Fred!" Molly hissed, giving her son a warning glance.

"What, Mum? It's true," George interjected, coming to his brother's defense. "The last person that we hired to help at the shop didn't exactly work out." Both he and Fred looked at each other with sly smiles, as if sharing an inside joke. Amelia guessed that there was more to the story than a mere store associate not "working out".

"We can pay you too," Fred added, "That way it isn't exactly slave labor."

"I really would love to help out there," Amelia replied, grateful that they were giving her something to do. She felt almost trapped in the house, as if she was always being watched. She needed to get out and do something. Even if it meant getting a job.

"But you are supposed to be hiding," Molly countered, looking skeptically at all of the young people. Amelia froze; she had forgotten that she was supposed to be on the run from the Dark Lord. She had forgotten that she had to keep her story straight. "If the Death Eaters saw you out in Diagon Alley, you would be dead in a minute. Not to mention you two as well. Or do you all have a death wish?"

Amelia looked down, ashamed of herself. She felt guiltier about putting Fred and George in danger than she did about her poor lying skills. She would spy on the Order, because she had to do that to stay alive. But she did not need to hurt the Weasley family in the process. She wanted to keep them safe; it was the least that she could do. Fred and George, however, did not look like they cared about their safety. The twins exchanged glances, and said in unison, "We have just the thing for you."

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Amelia lay in bed. Molly had let her use her daughter's room for the time being, so she had some privacy. It was really the only place in the Weasley house that she had to herself; every other time of the day, she felt that someone was always around her. After her slip up in the afternoon, Amelia just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts. The more that she thought about her mission, the more that she realized that she needed a plan. She had been at the Weasley house for a few days, and she had nothing good to give Bellatrix. She had to find something that she could tell her; otherwise both she and Luna would get hurt. Amelia felt like crying; all of this was too much for her. She just wanted to go back to the way things were. A month ago, she was with her friends and her biggest worry was about university. Now she was preoccupied with not getting killed by witches and wizards. And to keep herself alive, she needed to hurt these people who had been nothing but kind to her. She did not want to betray this family. She was disgusted with herself for even thinking about it. But she had to do it, for Luna if not for herself. Amelia wanted to curl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep; it was just too much for her. For a few short hours, she did not want to think about anything.<p>

Just as Amelia was beginning to doze off, there was a loud knock at her door. She jumped up automatically, her heart beating fast. She looked at her surroundings; she was in the Weasley home. She was safe. For a brief moment, she had forgotten where she was. "Come in," She said, her voice a little shaky.

The door opened, and a slicked matt of red hair stepped into the room. Fred Weasley looked down at her with a big smile on his face. He collapsed onto the bed next to her, not even considering the fact that he may want to be alone. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

Quickly, Amelia tried to think of an excuse. She did not want him to suspect anything about her. She resolved to change the subject; she did not want to have to lie yet again. So, Amelia shrugged before turning the conversation around, "What about you? I thought you and George would have left for your flat by now." It was true that since her arrival, the twins spent much more time in their childhood home. But it was strange that Fred was staying into the evening.

"I know you have been stuck inside lately," Fred said, "And even if you have volunteered for work at the shop, it isn't all that it is cracked up to be. After all you have been through, I think it is time that you see the lighter side of magic."

Amelia raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"Tell me, Amelia." Fred Weasley asked, with a mischievous grin, "How do you feel about flying?"

Ten minutes later, after a lot of convincing and begging Fred's part, both he and Amelia were making their way outside. The sun was low in the sky, and there was just enough daylight left. But Amelia did not understand how they were going to fly. When she pointed this out to Fred, he laughed at her. He took her to a shed near the house.

"What's this?" Amelia asked, pausing outside of the shed.

"This is where we store our brooms," Fred explained, "Also a good spot for snogging, so long as you don't mind the spiders." He laughed to himself, as if recalling some fond memory.

"Typical male." Amelia snorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Muggle, wizard. You guys are all the same."

"A guy has got needs," Fred shrugged with a coy smile, "And you'll find soon enough that wizards have some skills that Muggles would never dream of." Amelia rolled her eyes again, trying to hide the fact that her cheeks were growing red. Fred gave her a sideways look, as if he was trying to make her feel uncomfortable.

"If you are going to be like that, Fred Weasley, I will just go back inside." Amelia huffed, in a joking manner. From her first day with them, she could tell that Fred and George Weasley were sarcastic and jokers at heard. She figured that she was better off if she stopped thinking about it too much, and go along with them. She followed Fred into the shed and looked around at all of the brooms. She could not believe that witches and wizards actually travelled on brooms. Well, one of the stereotypes had to be true. Amelia supposed that this was better than eating children or having a face covered with warts.

"This one looks like it would be good for you," Fred said, ignoring he comment. He handed her one of the broomsticks from the shed; Amelia looked at it hesitantly before taking it. She could not believe that she was about to ride a broomstick like the witches I the movies. After taking it from Fred, she examined it closely. It was coated in a light layer of dust. Even so, it looked as if it was in much better condition than some of these others in the shed. There were some that were broken, or looked as if they had hit far too many trees in their time. Amelia did not want to ask what happened in these accidents; she figured that she was better off not knowing exactly how dangerous this was. She watched as Fred dug out his own broom from the shed, "That broom was my brother Percy's. But he would never use it. And it is not like he is going to use it now. It's not the best of models, but it flies well enough."

"Thank you," Amelia said, deciding not to ask about his brother. She could tell that there was some bitter resentment by his tone of voice, "But what do I do with it?"

Fred's head fell back in laughter, "I'm going to need you to sweep the house with it. It's 'bout time that you've earned your keep. What do you think you do? You _ride_ it."

"I'm not an idiot," Amelia rolled her eyes again. "I just don't know how to ride it."

"Put it between your legs," Fred smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Amelia rolled her eyes and made a face at him, but she did as he instructed. Even though she was mounted on the broom in the correct manner, she felt incredibly silly. "Now you have to push off the ground with your feet."

Once again, Amelia did as she was told. The second that her feet pushed off the ground, she was rising like a bullet through the air. Amelia let out a terrified scream; even though Fred had told her it would, she did not expect the broom to actually fly. Things like that just did not happen in the real world. Coming to her senses, Amelia attempted to level the room. At the moment, she just kept shooting forward, higher and higher into the evening sky. The wind was whipping her hair into her face so that she could not see where she was going. She realized that she was going to have to steer blind. She tightly held the front of the broom, pointing it downward. Almost immediately, the broom began to plummet towards the ground. Before she could even register what was happening to her, she hit the ground with a loud thud. From a brief moment, all she could see was black.

"Amelia!" She heard someone call. It took a moment for her to register that she was with Fred, and that she had just taken a bad fall. She could hear his footsteps coming towards her, but could not see a thing. She took a deep breath, and tried to sort herself out. She realized that she had not actually lost her vision from the fall, but rather had her eyes shut too tight. She slowly opened them, and it felt like it took every ounce of energy she had to accomplish even that. When she could finally see, she tried to stand up. Her legs, however, did not exactly want to cooperate with her. The second she was standing, her legs seemed to give out. Before she could fall to the ground again, a pair of arms caught her. Fred Weasley steadied her, making Amelia lean on him for support. "Are you alright? You were supposed to push off the ground gently."

"Thanks for the warning," Amelia mumbled, rubbing her already aching legs. She was certain that they would be bruised in the morning. As she shook bits of grass and dirt off of herself, Fred let go of her and went to pick up her broom. Amelia's eyes widened as she took a clumsy step back. She shook her head violently, "No, no. Absolutely not, I am most definitely not going on that awful thing again."

"I'll go with you," Fred said reassuringly, "I'll steer the broom, so you can just see what it is like to fly."

Amelia hesitated for a moment. She did not want to fall to her death, but she trusted Fred. Even though she had only known him for a few days, she knew that he was not going to let anything bad happen to her. Fred extended his hand to her, and she took it. He pulled her right beside him. Her heart began to hammer; if it was caused by the sight of the terrifying broom or Fred's hand in hers, she did not know. She really hoped that it was because of the former. As she stepped behind Fred, and put her arms tightly around his waist, she instantaneously felt better. When he pushed off of the ground, Amelia shut her eyes as tight as she could. She braced herself for the inevitable crash. But the brain of impact did not come. Instead, she could feel the wind blowing gently through her hair. She opened her eyes and saw that they were flying pact the tree line. She could see everything becoming smaller as they ascended. They were actually flying! It was the most amazing thing that Amelia had ever done. It was magical.

Fred sped up, causing Amelia to cling even tighter to him. As she got even closer to him, she could smell the faintest hint of bergamot. "Hold on," he called back to her. Before she could scream in protest, the two of them were upside down. Amelia couldn't believe it; he was doing tricks! Amelia would have yelled at him, had it not been so pleasant. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her, so she could enjoy the ride. She closed her eyes, and it felt as if she were young again and riding a rollercoaster.

The two of them flew around for a long time. They went through the trees, and around the Burrow. He wouldn't take her any farther for fear of leaving the safety of the protective charms. It did not matter to Amelia, she was having fun. For the first time since the death of her parents, she felt alive. She was exhilarated. But it was over too soon, before she knew it, her feet were once again back on the ground. Fred helped her to steady herself; her legs felt like jelly as she stood on firm ground.

"So what did you think?" Fred asked eagerly. His face was like a child's on Christmas morning: overly eager.

"Wow," Amelia said breathlessly. It was the only word that she could think to describe the experience, "Can we do it again"

Fred looked up at the sky, "We're losing light; the sun is about to set. But we can do it again tomorrow, if you'd like." Amelia nodded vigorously; she was itching to get up in the sky again. But she understood that it was getting dark. And the two of them had work in the morning. She went to pick up the broom, which was lying on the ground. Fred moved to grab it at the same time. Their hands brushed one another's. His hand was warm against the cool evening air. Amelia immediately pulled her hand away, and felt her cheeks grow hot. As her eyes looked upward, she noticed that his eyes were intently fixed on her. She looked downward, too flustered to meet his gaze. "I should go inside, and see if your mother needs help with anything."

She turned away before he could even respond. Flustered, she walked, alone, back to the Weasley house.


	5. Chapter 5

Birthright

**Disclaimer**: All characters, and the Harry Potter universe, belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Author's Note: **Oh, hey. So this is kind of a long chapter. I have finals coming up, so I don't know when I will be able to update this again. Probably not until after Christmas (unless I am lucky and finish my 16th Century England paper early). Anyway, I hope you guys like this one. I'm sorry if it seems too broken in terms of flow. I wrote this all at different times. So yeah, I hope you guys like it! Please give me some feedback, I would love to hear from you.

**Chapter Five**

_"Evil is always unspectacular and always human. _

_And shares our bed...and eats at our table."_

W.H. Auden

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><p>"Welcome to you first day of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," George smiled deviously. If Amelia had not known any better, she would have taken his smirk as something sinister. She would have run away. But she knew that this was how the Weasley twins operated; they thrived off of making her feel uncomfortable. In all honesty, she was glad that it was George who had greeted her when she arrived at the shop through the Floor Network, and not his twin brother. She had not seen Fred since she had walked away from him the previous night. Amelia did not know if things would be awkward between the two of them, and she really did not want to find out. George, however, did not seem to notice her anxiety, "How about a tour of the shop?"<p>

Amelia nodded, letting George take the lead. He first showed her the back storage room, where the overflow of all products was help. He attempted to tell her about the order of things in the back room, but it was plain to see that there really was none. Once he showed her the storage room, George showed her the sales floor. Although slightly more organized, the storefront was still chaotic. George began to explain to her the various products, showing much more enthusiasm than he had in the back room. He was having fun playing with the items that he sold; Amelia could tell that jokes were his passion, not business. As George described certain items, Amelia looked around the shop in wonder; she could not believe that some of these things could actually exist. She looked at one of the items that was sitting on a shelf, "What's this?"

"It's a Skiving Snackbox," George explained, "It will make you sick enough to get out of school for a while. There are a bunch of different things in there: Puking Pastilles, Fever Fudges – you name it we have it."

Amelia made a face, disgusted at the idea of forcing a sickness on oneself. "People use these to get sick intentionally? Like actually sick?"

George nodded and smiled, as if recalling some fond memory. "You'd be surprised how useful these Snackboxes can be. And not just for skipping a few classes." Amelia nodded, and decided not to press the issue any further.

Amelia moved on to the next object. It was a tiny vial with a pink liquid inside of it. Amelia looked at it in wonder. Before she could even ask about it, George explained, "That is a love potion. Give this to someone that you like, and they'll be all over you. Although it doesn't seem like you really need it." George looked at her, giving her a sly smirk.

Amelia was sure that her face had grown as red as his hair. Did George know something? Did his brother tell him anything? Did that mean that Fred had felt something as well? She put down the love potion carefully, as if it would explode if she was not careful with it. George chuckled, and Amelia felt her face redden even more. Before she could move on to the next object, she heard the door to the shop open. Fred Weasley walked in, carrying a large bag. He looked between his brother and Amelia, who was still red-faced in front of the love potions. He did not say anything to either of them, but rolled his eyes while smirking slightly. As he walked directly into the back room, Amelia let out a small sigh; she still had no idea how he felt about the previous night. George looked at her warily; did he know something? Amelia shook her head, trying to clear all of the thoughts from her mind. It was nothing, she was simply imagining everything. It was all in her head. "So are you going to show me how to use the register, George?"

"I've actually got to go and talk to a man about opening up a shop in Hogsmeade," George told her, "But Fred would be more than happy to do it, won't you, Freddy?"

From the back of the store came a distracted, "What? Sure." Amelia did not know if Fred even knew what he was agreeing to; he sounded that distracted. George winked at her before heading to the fireplace. Amelia's face turned an even deeper shade of red. Was this going to become a trend while she was working with the Weasley twins? Amelia waited for a few moments by the register, waiting for Fred to come out. When he did not, she decided to go and find him.

Amelia walked into the back room. Fred was sitting at the small table towards the back of the room. In front of him was large book, which he was writing in furiously. He was buried in financial records. He looked incredibly frustrated; Amelia would not have been surprised if the shop's records were like the rest of the store. Nothing about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was organized. Amelia took a step towards Fred, "Are you alright, Fred?"

He looked up at her, as if he had not even noticed that she was in the room before that moment. He was truly lost in his own little world. "Yes, sorry. What are you doing back here?"

"George said that you would teach me how to use the register," Amelia said, nervously.

"Oh," Fred said, getting up from his seat, "Alright." He led her back to the front of the store. He brought her behind the counter. The register was old fashioned looking. She stood close to him to get a closer look. Her shoulder was touching his; Amelia was very much aware of that fact. "Okay, well when they give you the money, just push this button and the drawer will open." He pushed the button, and just as he said it would, the drawer open.

Amelia's eyes went wide when she saw the money in the register, "Um, what is that?"

"It's a galleon," Fred said, hesitantly. He looked at her as if she were crazy, "Oh yes, I forgot that you don't know much about our world. Well, here – I can explain it. There are seventeen sickles in a galleon and there –" His shoulder was still touching hers; she could feel it, heavy against hers. It felt nice and warm against hers; it felt right. Amelia shook her head and told herself to snap out of it. She had a reason that she was with the Weasley family, and she could not let herself develop any sort of feelings that would get in the way of that. She had to save Luna, and that had to remain her first priority. Amelia took a step back, so that she was no longer brushing up against him. If Fred noticed, then he did not let on. Instead he continued to explain the monetary system of witches and wizards. "And that should be it. Any questions?" Amelia realized that she had no clue what he had just said, but she told herself that she would figure it out on her own. She shook her head, and Fred smiled, "Alright we're about to open up the shop. Are you ready?"

"As I will ever be," Amelia said nervously.

"You will do fine," Fred smiled at her, reassuringly. With a flick of his wand, the sign that was on the door switched from closed to open. "Just don't mess up."

"No pressure there," Amelia responded, rolling her eyes at him.

* * *

><p>The store was dead. They had been open for three hours, and not a single customer had come in the store. After about an hour of standing around, waiting for someone to walk in, Amelia got bored. She took it upon herself to begin organizing the store front and clean everything in sight. Fred looked on, impressed that she was actually attempting to clean.<p>

"If you think you are alright by yourself out here, Amelia," Fred said after she had finished cleaning, "I am going to go finish working on the accounting books," Amelia nodded and watched as he went into the back. Things had not been awkward in the times that they spent together, and Amelia was glad about that. Perhaps things would not be weird between them after all. Putting any worries about Fred from her mind, Amelia began walking around the store. She picked up the random products, playing with them as she went about. Some of them were funny and cute; she was fond of playing with Pygmy Puffs. However, it was a line of protection products that intrigued her the most. She picked up a Sneako-scope, wondering what it did. She examined it carefully, but could not figure it out for the life of her. In the distance, she heard the door to the shop open. As she did, she heard the front door open. At that very moment, the Sneako-scope began spinning rapidly in the palm of her hand. Fearing that she had broken it, she put it back gently on the shelf. She hurried down the stairs, to greet the first customer of the day. "Hello there! Welcome to Weasley-"

Amelia stopped dead in her tracks. Standing before her was a vicious and terrifying looking man. He looked so familiar to her, but Amelia could not place him. His face was scarred, giving him a menacing appearance. Amelia was never one to judge a person by their looks, but she could not help but feel scared of him. Trying to hide the uneasiness in her voice, she politely asked, "Can I help you with something."

"I have a message from Bellatrix,"

Amelia's eyes went wide; she looked around to make sure that Fred was still in the back room. If he had heard this conversation, everything would be ruined. Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest, and it felt like every single hair on her body stood on end. She turned back to the man, and said hastily, "I-I really do-don't think that this is a v-very good time."

"In two days," The man continued, ignoring her concerns, "She will meet you at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. She warns you not to disappoint her."

Amelia nodded hastily, trying to usher him out of the store before Fred came back. She could not have him even suspecting something of her. The man turned around, not even acknowledging her. As he opened the door to leave, he looked back at her, "Remember, Bellatrix does not like disappointment." With that, he exited the shop, letting the door slam loudly behind him.

Amelia let out a sigh of relief; that interaction could have ended terribly if Fred had walked in. Her heart was still hammering inside of her chest. How was she going to get away in order to meet Bellatrix tomorrow? She did not know if she would be able to get away from the shop. Putting her head in her hands, she tried to calm herself down.

"Amelia?" She heard a voice come from the back of the store. Her head shot up, and her eyes went wide. Any success that she made in calming herself down immediately reversed; Fred was standing in the doorway that led to the back room. How long had he been standing there? Did he hear anything from the brief conversation that she had with Bellatrix's lackey? "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah- uh, yes." Amelia lied, as she straightened one Skiving Snackbox that was out of place. She did not want to meet Fred's eyes. She was scared that he would be able to tell that something was wrong.

"Was someone just in here?" He asked, eyeing her warily.

So he had heard the door slam. "Yes," Amelia said, lying once again, "Someone just came in, looked around and walked out. He didn't seem interested in buying anything."

"Oh," Fred shrugged, "Well, jokes are not for everyone. Business has been slow since the school year started. Everything that we get is mail order now." He did not press the issue any further, and Amelia sighed in relief. "Well, it's slow. If you want, you can take your lunch break right now."

"Lunch break?" Amelia raised her eyebrows.

"What? Do you think we would work you like a dog?" Fred laughed, "You're entitled to one,"

"Oh," Amelia said, a plan for the next day already forming in her mind.

* * *

><p>Closing up the shop was easy that night, and Amelia was able to leave Diagon Alley relatively early in the evening. She was grateful for that; the events of the day gave her a lot to think about. She had almost nothing good to report back to Bellatrix. What was going to happen to her, or to Luna, when she had nothing good to give her? As she gathered her few belongings from the shop, she tried to stop herself from panicking. She took a handful of Floo Powder from the tiny cauldron beside the fireplace, and headed back to the Burrow.<p>

She whirled through the network of fireplaces; she knew that she would never get used to this method of transport. But then again, it was much more pleasant than what Bellatrix had used with her. She would never like that. As she emerged from the fireplace, Amelia walked into the Weasley's kitchen, where she knew she would find Molly. The two of them had agreed that Amelia would continue magic lessons in the evenings after work. Amelia had to admit that she was glad for the distraction, for a few hours she would not have to worry about the next morning. She saw Molly Weasley sitting in the kitchen, watching as the dishes washed themselves. Amelia was impressed; maybe when all of this was over, magic wouldn't seem like such a burden. Maybe she could even grow to enjoy it, like she had with flying.

"Hello, Molly," Amelia said as she entered the room. Molly looked up and smiled as she greeted the girl; Molly was warming up to her. Amelia was beginning to feel less like a burden to the family. While she was glad for the lessening of tensions, she could not help feel guilty. The Weasley family should have be wary of her, and instead they were beginning to trust her. She would have felt better if they kept their distance. It would be hard to betray them when they were so quickly becoming her friends.

"Hello, dear. Are you ready to begin your lessons?" Molly smiled warmly. When Amelia nodded, Molly continued, "I was thinking we could take a break from defense spells for a while. How do you feel about learning some charms?"

"Excited," Amelia said, truthfully. She had accepted the fact that she would never be good at defense spells. But perhaps she would be good at charms. Plus, it would be nice to focus on something other than protection from witches and wizards who would eventually come and try to kill hr. Molly smiled at the girl's enthusiasm, and the two of them set to work.

"We're going to start with something simple," Molly explained, as she set a lone piece of parchment on the kitchen table. Molly pulled out her wand from her pocket and waved it, "Windgardium Leviosa," Amelia watched as the parchment rose gracefully through the air. She had seen Fred use this spell earlier in the day to put a box on a high shelf that he couldn't reach. Amelia thought that it would have been really useful to use, and was glad that she was getting the chance to learn it.

After Molly walked her through the wand movements, Amelia got the chance to try it on her own. Clearing her throat, she waved the wand and articulated, "Windgardium Leviosa." The piece of parchment rose through the air, just as it had done when Molly demonstrated. Amelia smiled, obviously pleased with herself. She had done the spell, and had gotten right on the first try! Molly smiled at her new student, proud that she could actually accomplish something. She looked as if she was about to say something to Amelia, but there was a knock at the door.

Molly went to the door to answer; the Weasley's were not expecting company that evening. Molly looked through the peephole before opening the door enthusiastically. "Remus! It is good to see you,"

"Molly," The man at the door said, not entering the home just yet. "You should not be so quick to let people into your home. I could be Death Eater."

Molly rolled her eyes, and beckoned for him to come in. Amelia hung back in the kitchen, watching the exchange. Molly, ever the hostess, began offering this man tea, coffee, pumpkin juice, and anything else he could possibly want. Because she was too preoccupied with fussing over the new guest, Molly seemed to forget about Amelia and the piece of paper that had, by now, ceased floating in the air. The man standing in the doorway, however, did take notice of her. In fact, he was looking at her rather warily, "Hello,"

"Hello," Amelia said, just as warily. There was something about this man that made her uneasy. She did not say anything else, hoping that this man would not engage her in conversation.

"Oh, I am sorry, Remus." Molly said, finally noticing that Amelia was still in the room. "This is Amelia Remington, she will be staying with us for a while."

"Remington," His eyebrows raised at the mention of her last name. Amelia tried to hide her discomfort at that. "Are you related at all to Wyatt Remington?"

"Yes," She said, her voice slightly shaky. "He was my father,"

"Was? That last that I had heard, he and his wife had gone into hiding years ago,"

"He had been," Amelia was annoyed. She did not want to explain her story all over again, "But You-Know-Who's followers found him and my mum. I was only saved because my neighbor happened to be a witch as well." She did not want to go into any further details; it was too painful and too risky for her.

"Fred and George found Amelia," Molly explained to him. "I have been teaching her magic, since she never knew that she was a witch while her parents were in hiding." The man simply nodded, but regarded Amelia skeptically. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He looked more distrusting than Arthur Weasley had been of her initially.

"Molly," He said, turning to the woman, "I have some news. About your son." He looked at Molly intently, as if trying to relay some hidden subtext that he did not want Amelia to know about. His eyes shifted to Amelia. This was most definitely something that he did not want Amelia to hear.

Molly's eyes widened, and she acted hastily. "Amelia, dear, why don't you go upstairs and practice that charm some more." Amelia knew better than to outwardly protest. Without another word, Amelia took the piece of parchment and Molly's wand from the table. She walked up the stairs silently, but she had absolutely no intention of practicing.

After a few minutes of her being alone in her room, Amelia silently crept down the stairs. She wanted to hear what was going on. Perhaps it was something that she could tell Bellatrix; something that she could use to save Luna from torture for one more day. She saw on the first landing of the staircase, trying to hear what was being said. She could only make out certain parts of the conversation.

"What have you heard, Remus?" She could hear Molly ask, "Is Ron alright?"

"He looked fine, Molly," The man said, "They were at the old headquarters."

Amelia's ears perked up; this was definitely something that she could tell Bellatrix. It was not much, but at least it was something. She strained to hear more of the conversation, but Molly and her guest were speaking in hushed tones. Amelia descended a few steps, attempting to get closer to the kitchen.

"Do you know anything about what they are doing?"

The man sounded a little disgruntled, "No, Harry would not tell me. All I know is that they were told by Dumbledore to do something. I offered my help, but he refused. He told me that James would not want me to leave my wife… and child."

"Oh, Remus." She heard Molly say, her voice filled with sympathy.

"Tell me about this girl, Molly." Remus changed the subject, away from himself. "Do you trust her?"

Amelia's eyes went wide. She did not know if she really wanted to hear this. She really hated being reminded that she had to betray these people who had been so kind to her. But Amelia was glued to where she was. She had to know how Molly was going to respond to this.

"Yes, Remus." Molly said, her voice unwavering, "I do. You should have seen her when Fred and George brought her here. She was alone, and scared. She had just lost her parents, and she did not know anything about magic. We could not turn her away."

"How do you know that she is telling you everything?" Remus said gently.

"We just have to trust her, Remus." Molly replied. "She is a good person, and I do not think she could do anything that would hurt me or my family."

Amelia stood up, unwilling to listen to any more of this conversation. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes; she felt like a horrible person. She could not do this anymore. She would tell Bellatrix that she refused to do this; at this point, she did not care if she was killed. She did not want to betray the Weasley family. Amelia made her way silently back the bedroom, and frowned. She really could not do this anymore.

Collapsing on the bed that the Weasley's had so graciously provided for her, she began to cry, and worry about what the next day would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Birthright

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything. Harry Potter belongs to both J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Author's Note: **Well, it has been FOREVER since this was updated. I ended up going through my computer and rereading a bunch of old fics that I had written. I even published one here (although it's been sitting on my computer for years). So I got to rereading this one and forgot how much I liked it. I am going to continue it, because I really want my characters to get some sort of a resolution.

Just a fair warning: This chapter is DARK. It includes descriptions of physical abuse. I was toying with changing the rating to M, but decided against it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"_Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides." _

― André Malraux

* * *

><p>"I am looking for a birthday gift for my daughter," The woman standing in front of Amelia explained, "I need something that is not too inappropriate for her age."<p>

"I'm sorry – what?" Amelia had not heard a single word that the woman had said. She had walked in, and asked Amelia a few questions. She did the best that she could to answer them, but Amelia's mind was elsewhere. She was going to meet Bellatrix today; Amelia had no idea what to expect from the meeting. There were so many different possibilities that had been running through her mind all day. Bellatrix could kill her. That was the thought that terrified her the most. She did not want to think about that, but it would keep coming back into her mind. No matter what she did to distract herself from the terrible thought, she could not escape it.

Fred and George both noticed that she was acting strange. Amelia was constantly lost in thought, and she was not doing a particularly good job at the store. She was forgetful all day, and she had already broken two Sneak-o-scopes due to her constantly shaking hands.

The woman in front of Amelia, obviously annoyed at Amelia's inattentiveness, walked out of the store in a huff. George was standing behind the cashier as the woman slammed the door behind her. Looking at Amelia, he raised his eyebrows. Amelia simply shrugged, not wanting to discuss anything with him at the moment. She did not want to deal with the Inquisition; all she wanted to do was get this dreaded meeting over with. Before George could say anything to her, Amelia took a broom and began to sweep on the second level of the store, away from George and his inquisitive look.

The store was busier than it had been the previous day, but it was still relatively slow. George had explained to her that because of the war that was going on, most people did not want to leave their homes. Amelia could not blame them. Even though she had been desperate to get out of the Weasley house at one point, now she wished that she could just shut herself inside and never have to come out.

How was she going to tell Bellatrix that she did not want to be a spy? What would Bellatrix do? Amelia was not completely naïve; she knew that that was not going to go over well. Bellatrix was psychotic, there was no doubt about that. But would she hurt Amelia? Would she be locked up in that tiny cell again? Would Bellatrix kill her, the same cruel way that she had killed Carlotta and her parents? The mere thought of her parents made Amelia's heart drop. What would they think of her actions these past few days? Amelia did not want to think that they would have been disappointed in her, but she knew that they would not have been proud. From what Amelia had been told, they had risked their lives to do the right thing. Amelia had not been brave enough to do the same thing. Amelia began sweeping furiously, as if she was trying to sweep all of these disturbing thoughts out of her head.

"Amelia," She heard a voice coming from behind her. She jumped, too lost in her in her own thoughts. She had not even heard someone come up the stairs. She turned, and saw Fred standing in front of her, looking concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," She said, almost too hastily. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you swept the store this morning," Fred said slowly, and not the least bit accusingly. It was almost as if he was aware that he was treading dangerous waters. He touched her shoulder reassuringly. Amelia frowned; he couldn't be nice to her. It was making everything that much harder. She had made her decision, and she did not need Fred Weasley being so sweet to her and making her second guess herself.

Amelia shrugged his hand off of her shoulder and gave him a cold stare, "The store is dirty. I'll sweep as many times as I have to." Her voice came out more hostile than she intended it to. She could not help it, Amelia was on edge. And she was really bad at hiding it.

"It is kind of slow now," Fred said carefully, "Why don't you go and take your break?" He gave her a small smile.

Amelia tried to hide the anxiety that she was sure was written all over her face. This was it. Amelia had no idea what was about to happen to her, but she knew that it was not going to be good. Without saying anything, she walked down the stairs and into the back room. Feeling like a machine, she grabbed her coat off of the lopsided coat rack. Without thinking, without feeling, she put on the coat. All she could think about what was about to happen to her. She walked quietly to the front, and before she exited, Amelia turned to Fred and George. She gave the twins a small smile, "Goodbye."

Amelia didn't know if that was going to be the last time she spoke to those two, wonderful young men.

She walked through Diagon Alley. It was a large place, and Amelia had done a little bit of exploring on her first, and only, real break at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. But she still did not know how to navigate the magical shopping district. After a few minutes of walking down the deserted streets, Amelia found an alleyway that was dark and decrepit. Almost instinctively, she turned down it. This looked like the kind of place that Bellatrix would hang out with. Within a minute of walking, she saw a storefront called Borgin and Burkes. That was the name that the man told her to go with, and it was every bit as shady as she imagined it would be.

Without any sense of feeling, Amelia entered. There was a man standing in the store. He gave her a single glance, and nodded towards a staircase. Without saying anything to him, Amelia walked up the stairs. They were creaky, and made a lot of noise as she walked up. Amelia could not believe it; at a moment like this, she was thinking about a noisy staircase. It almost brought a smile to Amelia's face. Almost.

The staircase led to a small loft above the store. There was not much too it: a single window looking out towards Diagon Alley gave the only illumination in the whole room. In the distance, Amelia could see the very top of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She sighed, wondering what Fred and George would think if she never returned to them. Amelia's thoughts went to Fred Weasley. That wonderful moment when he had taken her flying. She would miss him, especially.

She was alone in the room. She could feel her own anticipation building up. She just wanted to get this over with; she had already decided that she would take whatever this crazy woman threw at her. But she would not give up any information about the Weasley family. She wouldn't betray the only people that had helped her to make sense of this crazy world that she had been thrown into.

Amelia was alone for a few minutes, but eventually she heard footsteps stomping on the stairs. Amelia swallowed; this was it. She was eerily calm as Bellatrix appeared in the stairway. She looked just as unhinged as the last time that Amelia had seen her. At the sight of her, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. But she did not allow any of her fear show. Amelia was not going to get this sadistic, psychotic woman the pleasure of seeing her fear. Amelia stood up a little straighter as Bellatrix approached; she tried to muster up as much courage as she could.

"I am not one for small talk," Bellatrix said, immediately. Her voice was a shrill as Amelia remembered it to be. It caused a shiver to run up her spine. "So, let's not deal with chit chat, okay? Just tell me what you know so you can go back to playing house with those blood traitors."

Amelia did not even want to know how Bellatrix had known she was with the Weasley's this whole time. But the derogatory term she had used to describe those who had graciously taken her in only strengthened her resolve to stand up to this woman. Without even blinking, Amelia said, "I am not telling you anything."

Bellatrix let out a maniacal cackle. Out of all of the possibilities of Bellatrix's reaction that Amelia had thought about all day, that was not one of them. Amelia had been bracing herself for anger. But she had not expected amusement. She could not even hide her surprised expression, when she had vowed not to show any emotion throughout this entire ordeal. Bellatrix was still laughing, "You're talking as if you have a choice in the matter!"

"I do," Amelia took a deep breath, "And I am not going to tell you anything. The Weasley's are good people, and I am not going to tell you anything about them."

Bellatrix stopped laughing, and her face grew serious and dark. Amelia swallowed; she knew that she was in trouble now. There was no mistaking the menacing look that appeared on the woman's face. "I am going to give you one more chance before this gets painful."

Amelia bit her lip, and shook her head. She had made a decision not to back down on this. She was going to see it through, no matter what happened to her. She did not want to betray the trust of the Weasley's. She cleared her through, and with a little more force said, "No,"

Before Amelia could even get the word out, there was a sharp pain her in her side. She had not heard Bellatrix cast any sort of curse on her, but the sharp pain meant she knew it was coming. Amelia grabbed her side, trying to ease the source of the pain. However, it seemed to now be emanating from all over her body. She could not make it stop. Amelia doubled over from the extreme pain.

Bellatrix was mumbling something else, but Amelia could not hear what she was saying. She was too consumed with the pain of whatever curse the psychotic woman had hurled at her. Amelia braced herself for whatever else was coming at her.

_Amelia, _Amelia heard a voice in her head. She recognized that voice instantly; it was one that she thought she would never hear again. It belonged to her mother. _Amelia, you stupid girl. Did you really think you could fight the Dark Lord? Did you think you could win? The Weasley's… they don't even like you. They don't trust you – why would they? They see right through you. They know what you really are. They don't even like you. _

"No," Amelia said through clenched teeth. She was still in a tremendous amount of pain. She was on all fours, trying to fight the curses that Bellatrix was subjecting her to. "You're wrong."

_Why would anyone like you? _The voice now belonged to her father. _You were nothing but a disappointment to us. Eighteen years and you never figured out that you were a witch, stupid girl. You can't even do magic. You are useless. You cannot even get simple information. _

Hearing the voice of her father talk like that, Amelia could not bear it. "No," She said through tears, "No. Dad, please."

She heard the disembodied voice of her father laugh mockingly at her. _You are pathetic, you can't even fight back. Just give up now, and do the world a favor. _Amelia collapsed on the floor at the words of her father. How could he even say anything like that to her? She had loved him… She did not want to be a disappointment to her family.

Amelia tried to tell herself that it wasn't her father who was speaking to her now. It was just some trick used by Bellatrix to get her to talk. Amelia put her hands to hear ears, attempting to block out the noise. "No,"

Somewhere, far away, Amelia could hear a cackle. _"Crucio,"_

The pain that Amelia felt all over her body intensified even more now. Her body writhed on the floor as she attempted to escape from the pain. But not matter which direction she moved in, the pain followed her. It felt as if all over her organs were twisting themselves into a giant knot. Amelia tried hard to fight it, but there was nothing she could do.

"Please," Amelia cried out, "Please just do it already."

And that's when she felt it. On top of the curse that Bellatrix inflicted on her, she had felt a shoe make hard contact with her stomach. Amelia doubled over once more, trying to catch her breath. It was already difficult to breathe, and the kick made it even worse. Somewhere, she could hear the crazed woman laughing to her, mocking her pain. Why did she enjoy this so much? Amelia felt another kick, this time in her back; she felt that right in her kidneys. She screamed out in pain. Bellatrix seemed to like that reaction, because it had earned her another swifter and harder kick. Amelia groaned, rolling onto her back. She looked up at the ceiling, the edge of her vision was blurred from the pain.

"Please," Amelia begged, just wanting it all to end already.

"Do you really think I am going to kill you?" A voice that Amelia could not quite place. She could only assume that it was Bellatrix, but her senses were not functioning well enough for her to know for certain. "The Dark Lord wants you alive… No, I am just going to have my fun with you."

Fun. _Fun. _If Amelia had it in her to scoff, she would have. This was all a game to Bellatrix, and she enjoyed every minute of it. Amelia closed her eyes, giving herself a little chuckle. Of course it was just a game to Bellatrix. Why would she expect any different?

Bellatrix did not like Amelia's reaction, because before she could even move, Amelia felt something on her throat, cutting off her supply of oxygen. Her eyes opened immediately. She could see Bellatrix's boot to her throat. Amelia grabbed the woman's ankle, trying hard to remove her foot from her trachea. But Amelia was already weak; she could not fight it. And Amelia needed the oxygen. Her vision was already starting to go from the lack of air…

Amelia hit her ankle with her hands. With what little air she had left she mutter, "Okay! Okay! I'll talk…"

* * *

><p>Amelia had no clue how long she had been gone after she left Bellatrix behind. The woman was not happy with her lack of information. But it was something that they had not known before. She had left Amelia to compose herself in Borgin and Burkes, but not without threatening her that she had better have more useful information their next meeting. Amelia did not know how she was going to get that information, but she would have to figure something out.<p>

As Amelia left Knockturn Alley, she felt ashamed of herself. She had wanted nothing more than to stand up to this insane woman. But she learned that she was no match for her, or the dark side of this whole war. She was just a pawn in this; she had no choice, no agency. She had to do what she was told – she risked her own life, and Luna's.

_Luna. _Amelia had tried her hardest not to think of the girl the last couple of days. She did not want to think about the affect her decision would have on the girl. But now that she knew exactly what this sadistic woman was capable of, Amelia had to do what she could to protect her friend.

Amelia wandered around the empty streets of Diagon Alley. She had to wonder what it was like vibrant, and crowded. She bet it was truly a wonderful place to be. Amelia wished she could have seen it then, before war and terror left it a ghost town. The wizarding world must have been a great place before the Dark Lord was ruined everything. Amelia hoped with all of her heart that she would live to see the day that it was restored to all its glory.

Amelia found herself looking into the one of the shops that was not boarded up. Above there was a sign that read Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Amelia let out a hoarse chuckle. It seemed so odd that in a world at war, with magic, there was something so simple, and as innocent as an ice cream shop. After all of this was over, Amelia decided that she was going to go there. Maybe Fred would want to go too.

But this war would have to end first. And the Dark Lord would have to be defeated. And, then, what would happen to her? She would probably be thrown in jail for aiding the enemy, that Azkaban place that Luna had told her about. Amelia sighed; no matter what the outcome of this war, Amelia would lose.

As Amelia turned away from the ice cream parlor, she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection in the window. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red from the tears, and she had a red mark on her neck from where Bellatrix's boot had been. But other than that, you could not tell that she had been tortured. She attempted to fix her hair, making herself look somewhat presentable. She dried her eyes, but there was not much she could do to mask the puffiness. Hopefully, Fred and George would be tactful and not ask. Amelia turned, deciding she had been gone long enough, and walked back to the joke shop, where she was sure that she would face a lot of questions.

"Where have you been?" Fred asked, immediately, as the laughter from the door signaled that Amelia entered the joke shop. "We were just about to go and look for you." Amelia froze, shocked by the amount of concern that was plastered on his face. He reached out, grabbing Amelia's arm. Amelia flinched at the touch, recalling the abuse she had just suffered at the hand of Bellatrix. She knew Fred Weasley would never do anything to hurt her, but being touched was a sensation she did not want to feel at the moment.

She pulled away from him, doing her best to ignore the look of hurt in his eyes, "I'm sorry, I got lost. The streets here don't exactly run parallel."

"You shouldn't go wandering out by yourself, 'Melia," George said, "Things are dangerous out there. You don't even have a wand to defend yourself. And you are supposed to be hiding, remember?"

Amelia nodded, not wanting to put up a fight with the twins. She already had an emotional day, "I know, alright? It was stupid, and I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything more, but headed into the back room. She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. But the stress of the day was just too much for her. _You've just got to grin and bear it, _she told herself. Yeah, grin and bear it. Like all she had to do was take some nasty medicine. If only things were that simple.

She heard the door to the backroom open. Amelia looked up to see the person who had invaded her privacy. Fred Weasley stood before her.

"You can quit lying, you know. I know what happened."


	7. Chapter 7

Birthright

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything. Harry Potter belongs to both J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

**Author's Note: **Another update! Yay! Inspiration just hit me, and I feel a little guilty because I should also be writing my other story too. But this one comes a lot easier to me for some reason. Probably because Harry Potter lore comes a lot easier to me. Anyway, from here on out, things are going to move a little quickly. That's not how I wanted it to happen, but that's what it looks like. I have two directions that this story can take, and I have no idea which one I like better. It's quite the dilemma, I promise you.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter! And if you do like it, I appreciate all reviews that I get. It's a little disheartening not to know what people think of it. Even if they hate it!

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"_For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,_

_who art as black as hell, as dark as night."_

William Shakespeare

* * *

><p>Amelia's eyes went wide at the accusation that she was lying. What the hell did Fred mean by that? Had he followed her to Borgin and Burkes? More importantly, how was she going to deal with this now? Amelia knew it was only a matter of time before they all found out; she just had not thought that it was going to be this quick. Should she fess up to everything and admit her mistake? Maybe they would believe the truth about being blackmailed… Or maybe she should just play dumb. Unless he had proof of anything, it was all just speculation….<p>

"Excuse me?" Amelia could not even hide the crack in her voice, caused by a combination of hoarseness from earlier, and sheer terror.

"I know what happened today," Fred said, once again. Amelia could not decipher the meaning behind his words; he did not sound angry, hurt, or betrayed. She had at least suspected that he would appear as one of those.

"I- I don't know what you mean," Amelia said, defiantly sticking her chin up. Playing dumb was probably her best option in this situation, and she was going to go with it.

"You don't have to hide it." Okay, Amelia was definitely confused by his reaction now. She waited for Fred go continue with his explanation. "I'm actually surprised that it hadn't happened sooner, you know."

"I'm sorry?" Amelia said, apologizing for not understanding what the redhead in front of her was talking about.

"You know," Fred continued, "Being upset. You've been with us for a while now, working hard and learning magic. You've done a pretty good job at distracting yourself. But you aren't a troll – you have feelings."

"Feelings," Amelia repeated, drawing the word out into more syllables that it needed. Was he talking about what happened the other night? Or was this something else?

"Well yeah," Fred hesitated for a moment, "I mean, you're parents are gone. And you've barely talked about that for as long as George and I have known you. With all the stress of being in hiding, on top of everything else, I was wondering when you'd snap." He gave a half-hearted chuckle, "Georgie and I even took bets on it, you see."

Amelia had to laugh at his last comment, "And who, may I ask, won that bet?"

"George," He said, "He's always been better at numbers than I have. He got all the brains in the family. I got the looks." Fred knocked his shoulder into Amelia's, trying to cheer her up. Amelia had to smile; she was grateful that Fred cared enough about her to come in and try to comfort her. And Amelia did not recoil at the touch, like she had done previously. In fact, it felt good to be around him.

"I'm sorry," Amelia apologized, "For my behavior. And for yelling at you earlier today. Today has just been stressful for me," Amelia did not elaborate why, leaving Fred to draw his own conclusions. "But I promise that I will be better; it won't happen again."

"Don't worry about it," He laughed, "Besides, you are somewhat cute when you are angry."

* * *

><p>The next few days seemed to blur together for Amelia. She would go from work to the Burrow every day, learning magic after spending a day in the store. Occasionally, Fred or George would let her practice in the store. But only on days when it was particularly slow, and there were no customers. George often joked that they did not want to risk her blowing any of their patrons up. Amelia had to admit, her magic was abysmal. She was finally getting the hang of how to disarm someone, after having practicing that for days on end. She was almost glad she never got to attend Hogwarts; she would have been the laughing stock of the class. Instead, she was merely the laughing stock of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.<p>

"Maybe we should get you some Kwikspell," Fred said to her one day, "You're no better than a Squib."

Amelia had no idea what a Squib was, but she could tell that it was meant to be an insult to her. In response to the mean jab, Amelia stuck her tongue out at Fred. It was childish, she knew. But it was the exact kind of thing that she knew Fred would get a kick out of.

"Oi!" Fred laughed at her boldness, "Come over here and I'll show you what you can do that tongue."

"You wish," Fred Weasley was one to routinely make jokes like that at Amelia's expense. She did not mind them, because she knew that he was having harmless fun. Instead, she would roll her eyes at him, or make a snarky comment back. As if on cue, George began to make gagging noises and mimicked throwing up from behind the counter.

Amelia had fallen comfortably into a routine with the Weasley's. If she had any free time, she spent her days with Molly, helping out around the Burrow, or with the twins. It was nice to have most of her time occupied in some way, because it meant she was not thinking about what happened with Bellatrix. Of course, it was never out of her mind for too long – Amelia routinely had nightmares about the sadistic woman. If she was ever alone with her thoughts for too long, her mind would drift back to that day, reliving all of the pain. It felt as if it were only yesterday that it happened to her. And so, Amelia spent as much of her time with Fred as she possibly could.

Amelia turned the wand back over to Fred, giving up practicing with it for the day. But as she tried to hand the wand back, Fred shook his head, "You're never going to get any better if you keep giving up like this."

"It's no use," Amelia groaned, "You've seen me try to practice, I am terrible."

"No you aren't." Fred replied, "You're just like any another first year, even the ones who grew up with magic. Everyone is terrible in the beginning; you just have to keep up with it." Fred gave her a reassuring smile.

"Here," George said, having been listening to the entire conversation between his brother and Amelia, "You can practice on me. Sometimes it's easier when you have someone coming at you. It comes more naturally," Amelia's eyes went wide. She had never actually used magic against another person; Molly had deemed it too dangerous for a beginner. Amelia had to agree; she did not want to accidently blow her tutors to bits.

But Fred and George looked insistent, and Amelia knew that they would not take no for an answer. And so, Amelia began her first practice duel. Fred stood close behind her, giving her helpful tips.

"Make sure to always have your wand raised in a duel. Never let your guard down," As he said this, he guided her wand hand to its position. Amelia trembled at the touch slightly. If Fred noticed, he did not seem to let on. Perhaps, he even chalked it up to her nerves about actually dueling for the first time. He continued, so close to her that he only had to whisper, "Concentrate on protecting yourself right now. It will come naturally." He squeezed her arm in gentle encouragement, which sent shivers down Amelia's spine. Fred backed away from the duel, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

_Please go easy on me, George,_ Amelia silently prayed,_ please don't turn me into a frog._ Her heart was beating wildly fast, whether that was from Fred's touch or the exhilaration of actually using magic on someone, she did not know.

"_Evert-" _

Before George could even get the rest of spell out of his mouth, Amelia panicked. She did the first spell that had come to mind. Without even thinking, she yelled out "_Expelliarmus!" _She was sure the word came out like a shriek. She did not even look to see if her spell at worked, assuming that like all the prior times, it had failed. And so, Amelia closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever hex George had flung her way. But it did not come. Opening one eye, she saw George standing a few feet away from her, wandless.

"You didn't have to throw your wand across the room to make me feel better," Amelia rolled her eyes; she did not believe for a second that she actually managed to cast a successful defensive spell.

"I didn't throw it across the room," George laughed, "Believe me, if it hadn't worked, I would have been the first one to make fun of you."

"You mean I actually was able to cast a defensive spell?" Amelia asked, in shock. She turned to Fred, who nodded to confirm that she had actually done it. Amelia smiled, unable to contain her happiness at the situation. She ran over to Fred, smiling the whole time. She wrapped her arms around him, "Thank you. Thank you so much for helping me!"

Fred froze under her arms, Amelia could sense it. Embarrassed, she was about to pull away from him. But as she was about to move, her had enveloped his arms around her as well. Amelia smiled, feeling comfortable in his arms. Amelia could hear the smile in Fred's voice, "You can just call me Saint Fred."

"Oi!" She heard his twin's voice from across the room, "I thought I was the holey one."

Amelia rolled her eyes; the ear jokes were constant with these two. Amelia pulled away from Fred, but not before meeting his eyes. He gave her a small smile, "You did well,"

Amelia felt her cheeks go red. But almost as soon as that butterfly feeling came, she repressed it. _No. _Amelia told herself. _I can't do this. I can't start feeling things. _Amelia had to keep her distance; she was already going to disappoint Fred and the rest of the Weasley's by acting as a spy. She did not want to throw romantic feelings into the mix; it would just make the betrayal that much worse. Amelia stepped away from the twins, and found herself developing a keen interest in restocking the shelves. Grabbing some Skiving Snackboxes that needed to go on a higher shelf, she tried to stack them. But, at five foot one, Amelia was not the person to be putting things on high shelves. She mumbled, "God forbid there be some sort of stool in this store to stand on,"

"Here," She heard a voice behind her, "Let me help,"

Fred Weasley stood directly behind her, reaching past her to stick the Skiving Snackboxes on their correct shelf. Amelia turned around to face him, not realizing how close he had been to her. Looking down at her feet, she mumbled, "Thank you,"

"It's not a problem. It isn't your fault that you're the size of a goblin," He laughed, and Amelia could feel his breath on her skin. It caused a lump to rise in her throat. _No, this is wrong. You'd only hurt him in the end. _For a brief moment though, Amelia didn't care. Some primal part of her wanted to lean in, and touch her lips to his. Before she could even react, Fred moved in a little closer to her. Their faces were barely inches apart from each others. Amelia's heart was beating so fast, she had to wonder if Fred could hear it.

_Crash. _The sound of glass breaking, followed by a string of expletives, made both Amelia and Fred look up from their position. The two of them broke apart, and rushed to see what was happening. In the front of the store, George was cleaning up a pile of broken love potions. Amelia sniffed at the love potion, as it was emitting a strong odor.

It smelled of bergamot.

* * *

><p>Amelia wanted nothing more than to forget about that day, and the moment she had shared with Fred. All she wanted to do was go into the room that Molly Weasley had graciously provided for her, and curl up into a ball. She was angry with herself, for getting herself into this kind of situation. She had no idea what Fred was thinking about the situation, but she knew how she felt. And she knew that she should not have been feeling that way. She was a spy, she was only going to leave destruction in her wake. She should avoid Fred, and all the feelings that came with him, like the plague.<p>

But there was no avoiding Fred Weasley. Molly insisted that the boys come home for a family dinner. Molly had even told her that she was thankful that Amelia was there; the boys had spent a lot more time at home now that Amelia was staying with the Weasley's. "Times are dangerous," Molly explained, "I want my boys home now more than ever."

Oh, Amelia knew exactly how dangerous they were.

Amelia was helping Molly to set the table in the kitchen when she heard the twins emerge from the fireplace in the family room. Molly rushed to greet her sons, but Amelia decided that it would be much better to stay behind instead. She concentrated on setting each individual place, while the forks and knives walked over to their correct place settings. Amelia did not think that she would ever get used to this. Amelia counted the place settings at the table; there were more than usual. Amelia assumed that more people would be joining them for dinner. But she had to wonder who. Due to the war, guests were few and far between.

Amelia received her answer within minutes. While Molly was greeting her sons, she heard someone at the door. Molly rushed to go answer it, leading Remus Lupin and his pregnant wife in. Amelia had met Remus on only one occasion, but never got to meet his wife.

After introductions were made, all of them sat down for dinner. Amelia sat down at her usual place at the Weasley family table. Fred sat down on one side of her, while the George collapsed in the chair on the other. Tonks sat down across from her. As Amelia was about to dig into her food, she noticed that Tonk's hair changed to lilac on its own. Amelia's eyes went wide.

The woman seemed to notice her reaction, "Sorry. I can't seem to control it anymore. It's the baby, he likes to change certain things about my appearance based on his mood. I'm lucky it's just the hair this time. It could be worse, he could have given me a pig's nose like the time he did in Gringotts."

Amelia merely nodded as the rest of the table laughed.

Remus turned to Arthur, saying in a hushed tone, "Bellatrix has been spotted wandering around Diagon Alley. Spies say she has deposited something of great value into her vault at Gringotts."

"I, personally, don't think that it is of any importance," Tonks replied, as she put a forkful of food into her mouth, "My aunt has always had a flare for dramatics,"

Amelia dropped her fork onto her plate, creating a loud clanking sound, "Your aunt?" She was sure that her face turned even paler at the new revelation. Why would she be here if she was related to Bellatrix? Would she know exactly what Amelia was doing there?

"Oh, dear," Molly said, from the other side of the table. The woman explained the situation to her guests, "Bellatrix was the one who came after her when after her parents were…." She let the sentence trail off; Remus knew enough of her back story to fill in the gaps.

They thought it was some sort of post-traumatic stress. Fred grasped her hand under the table, as if trying to calm her. For a brief moment, Amelia had forgotten that he was right there.

"My mother and Bellatrix are sisters… My mother was disowned from her family after she married my dad," Tonks explained hastily, trying to quell any fears that Amelia may have had. "Of course, my aunt is psychotic; we have nothing to do with her, or her family. We have not even spoken in years."

Amelia merely nodded; her heart was still beating too fast for her to speak. Molly gave her a pitying look, and the rest of them continued on with their meal.

"I do not think we should believe anything to be 'dramatics' when it comes to Bellatrix," Arthur said, continuing the conversation that was going on before Amelia's interruption, "We have to be vigilant, anything and everything could be important to helping us to defeat You-Know-Who."

Amelia ate her food, trying to concentrate on the conversation. This was the kind of stuff that she could tell her tormentor. Amelia could only imagine Bellatrix's face when she heard that she was being followed.

"What we need to be concerned about," Tonks interjected, "Is finding ways to help Harry. He is going to be the one who can do it."

"Harry won't tell us what he is up to," Remus snapped; this was obviously a touchy subject for him, "All he will say is that he is on a special mission that Dumbledore gave him. He won't let anyone help me. We don't even have any idea where he is,"

Arthur coughed a bit, "I spoke to Xenophilius Lovegood this afternoon. He came over here, rather apologetic. When I asked him what had happened, he said that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had come over to ask him questions about the Deathly Hallows."

"The Deathly Hallows?" Molly asked, incredulous, "As in the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

Her husband nodded solemnly, "He said after the three came, he signaled for Death Eaters to come to the house. He believed that by turning them in, he would get his daughter back."

Molly turned a ghostly white, "Arthur Weasley, why did you not tell me immediately that Xenophilius Lovegood tried to _turn in our son_ to Death Eaters?"

While Molly had turned white, her husband turned red. "I – I did not think much of it. The three of them appeared to have gotten away."

"All these weeks," Molly said, her shrill voice rising, "And no news! And now, I find out that you know!"

"Molly, dear," Arthur tried to placate his wife, "I was going to tell you, I just did not want to worry you."

"Worry me? Worry me? Our son is out there, trying to take down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, while the world is at war! And you tell me not to worry?"

The rest of the table silently watched this exchange. Amelia tried to commit the conversation to memory, hoping to escape being tortured once again by Bellatrix.

She had been so concerned with the conversation around her, that she had not even noticed that Fred Weasley had not let go of her hand.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Okay! There you have it – chapter seven! Like I said, things are going to start picking up. If you are following the time line at all, Xenophilius has just tried to turn Harry, Hermione and Ron in – which means they are headed to Malfoy Manor pretty soon. And that is where things are going to get interesting!

Please, let me know what you think of this!


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